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THE 

PROPOSED  MISSION  IN  CENTRAL  AFRICA. 

3.  53.  C.  f.  4tt. 

1879. 


RtC.OCT  \8&° 


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W.ft.FISH  PHQXQ-ENG.  BOSTON. 


American  Boarti  of  Commissioners  for  jFo  reign  Missions. 


THE  PROPOSED  MISSION  IN  CENTRAL  AFRICA. 


A PAPER  READ  AT  THE  ANNUAL  MEETING  AT 
SYRACUSE,  N.  Y.,  OCTOBER  8,  1879. 


BY 

Rev.  JOHN  O.  MEANS,  D.  D. 


CAMBRIDGE: 

$rtnteb  at  tfic 

1879. 


PRINCE!  TON 
.REC.  OCT  1880 
THEOLOGICAL 


THE  PROPOSED  MISSION  IN  CENTRAL  AFRICA- 

BY  REV.  JOHN  O.  MEANS,  D.  D. 

“ In  the  nineteenth  century  the  white  has  made  a man  out  of  the  black ; in  the 
twentieth  century  Europe  will  make  a world  out  of  Africa.”  The  French  periodi- 
cal which  quotes  this  saying  of  “ one  of  the  great  poets  of  the  world  ” has  ac- 
counts of  enterprises  innumerable,  scientific,  commercial,  and  religious,  which 
are  working  towards  the  fulfillment  of  the  poet’s  prediction.  “The  African  ques- 
tion,” it  declares,  “preoccupies  all  minds,  and  the  Central  Plateau  might  be  com- 
pared to  a vast  citadel  assailed  on  every  side  by  armies  of  merchants  eager  to 
know  the  riches  it  contains.”1  We  are  best  acquainted  with  what  England  is 
doing  ; but  Germany,  France,  Belgium,  Portugal,  Italy,  all  have  their  parties  of 
scientific  explorers  penetrating  the  vast  unknown ; while  commercial  companies 
are  organizing  for  manufacturing,  for  traffic,  and  for  communication  by  canals, 
railroads,  telegraph  lines,  steamboats,  and  elephant  trains.  The  flooding  of  the 
Sahara  may  seem  chimerical ; to  make  an  inland  sea  over  which  transit  shall  be 
swifter  than  by  camels,  while  by  the  evaporation  of  its  waters  the  shores  shall  be 
made  fertile  and  fruitful  in  harvests.  But  the  French  government  looks  favor- 
ably upon  the  railway  from  Algeria  towards  the  Soudan,  and  four  other  railroads 
to  the  interior  are  projected.2  With  towns  hidden  in  the  mysterious  depths  like 
Sansandig  of  only  40,000  inhabitants,  but  which  has  “ merchants  who  could  at  a 
moment’s  notice  produce  $250,000  or  $300,000  more  readily  than  many  European 
bankers  ; ” with  cities  like  Kuka,  of  60,000  inhabitants  ; Bida,  Abeokuta,  and  Illora, 
of  80,000,  and  Ibadan,  of  150,000  ; 3 with  exports  from  the  single  port  of  Lagos  of 
two  and  a half  million  dollars,4  paid  for  in  the  products  of  English  looms  and  an- 
vils; it  is  not  strange  that  keen-eyed  Commerce  should  be  looking  into  this  “ Dark 
Continent.”  Seven  hundred  thousand  kilograms,  a million  and  a half  pounds,  of 
ivory,  are  annually  received  in  England,  it  is  stated,5  to  yield  which  50,000  ele- 
phants must  be  slain  — some  inroad  this  must  make  upon  the  monsters  of  which 
Livingston  saw  troops  two  miles  long  6 — cotton  to  be  obtained,  coffee,  camwood, 

1 L'Afrique  Exploree  et  Civilisie , Journal  Mensual,  Prem.  Ann.,  1879-1880.  Gen&ve  et  Paris,  1879. 
No.  1,  July,  1879,  pp.  3,  18. 

2 For  exploring  expeditions  now  in  progress  and  commercial  companies,  see  L'Afrique , No.  1,  pp.  7-15, 
18,  19,21,22,  and  No.  2,  August,  pp.  25-28,  34-38,  September,  pp.  43,49.  Proceedings  of  the  Royal  Geo- 
graphical Society , London,  1879 ; for  February,  pp.  123  seq.;  for  May,  pp.  328  seq. ; for  June,  pp.  358, 382  seq. ; 
for  August,  pp.  312  seq. ; for  September,  pp.  589,  591. 

3 Rohlf,  in  Stanford’s  Compendium  of  Geog.  and  Travel , “ Africa,”  edited  and  extended  by  Keith  John- 
ston, London,  1878,  pp.  153,  154,  163,  181.  A minute  description  of  Kuka,  the  life  and  business,  trades  and 
ocupations,  and  amusements  of  the  people  is  given  in  Sahara  und  Soudan  Ergebnisse  sechsjdhrige  Reisen  in 
Afriha,  von  Dr.  Gustav  Nachtigal,  Erster  Theil,  mit  neun  und  vierzig  Holtzschnitten  und  zwei  Karten.  Ber- 
lin, 1879  (June).  Imp.  8vo,  pp.  768.  Book  II.,  chs.  5 to  10,  pp.  581-784. 

4 Journal  Society  of  Arts,  June  13,  1879,  P-  645.  In  1875,  English  produce,  imported  at  Lagos,  was  valued 
at  ^4S9>737»  African  produce  exported,  .£517,536,  a total  of  £977,27$  = $4,590,000.  In  1876  the  trade  in 
India-rubber  on  the  East  Coast  reached  $500,000.  Stevenson,  Civilization  of  Southeastern  Africa,  Glas- 
gow, 1877. 

6 L'Afrique  Explorie,  p.  17.  Livingstone's  Last  Journals,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  89  et  seq.  The  Last  Journals  of 
David  Livingstone  in  Central  Africa,  from  1865  to  his  death,  continued  by  a narrative  of  his  last  moments 
and  sufferings,  obtained  from  his  faithful  servants,  Chuma  and  Susi,  by  Horace  Waller,  f.  r.  g.  s.,  Rector 
of  Twywell,  Northampton,  1874,  2 vols.,  8vo. 

6 Expedition  to  the  Zambesi,  ch.  6. 


4 


The  Proposed  Mission  in  Central  A frica . 

indigo,  gold,  iron,  copper,  coal,  palm  oil,  India  rubber,  beeswax,  ground  nuts,  a 
fresh  market  for  what  is  yielded  by  her  whirling  spindles  and  her  skillful  fingers  ; 
it  would  be  strange  if  Europe  did  not  try  to  make  a world  out  of  Africa. 

In  the  making,  Christianity  must  have  a hand  or  there  will  be  a failure.  Chris- 
tianity has  made  the  beginning.  This  inroad  upon  the  Central  Plateau  is  through 
the  gates  which  Christian  Missions  have  opened.  The  movement  towards  scien- 
tific exploration  of  the  recesses  of  Africa  and  all  that  is  coming  out  of  it,  originated 
in  what  was  done’ by  self-denying  ministers  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society, 
who  do  not  yet  rest  from  their  labors,  though  their  works  do  follow  them.1 

I.  THE  COUNTRY  IN  GENERAL. 

The  continent  of  Africa  is  equal  in  area  to  Europe  and  North  America  com- 
bined, and  has  a population  more  than  double  that  of  both  Americas  ; it  holds 
nearly  one  sixth  of  the  human  race.2  The  northern  portion  was  the  seat  of 
ancient  civilization,  and  has  had  its  part  to  play  in  the  modern  world.  South 
Africa  for  more  than  two  hundred  years  has  been  the  seat  of  European  colonies, 
which  are  now  becoming  opulent  free  states.  Central  Africa  has  been  almost  an 
unknown  region  till  our  day.  Snow-capped  mountains  maybe  seen  from  far ; but 
Kilimanjaro  and  Kenia,  though  only  two  hundred  miles  from  the  eastern  coast,  had 
not  been  seen  by  European  eyes  till  1848;  and  the  story  of  missionaries  about 
the  great  inland  seas  was  laughed  at  in  geographical  circles  twenty-five  years  ago. 
To  many  the  marvelous  volumes  of  Mr.  Stanley  first  disclosed  the  mysteries  of 
“The  Dark  Continent”;  dark  in  our  knowledge  of  it  and  in  its  moral  coloring, 
though  in  its  physical  characteristics  comparable  with  the  fairest  quarters  of 
the  globe.  Mr.  Stanley,  in  his  great  feat  of  crossing  from  east  to  west,  was 
preceded  a year  by  Commander  Cameron,  who  went  through  lower  down.  Dr. 
Livingstone  ranged  up  from  the  Cape  Colony  to  Angola  and  crossed  again  from 
west  to  east  and  zigzagged  through  the  southern  portions.  Dr.  Lacerda,  in  1798, 
penetrated  to  the  Cazembe’s  capitol,  as  did  Monteiro  in  1831  ; the  Portuguese 
knew  of  Lake  Nyassa ; Graga  and  Silva  Porto  have  penetrated  from  the  West, 
Savorgnan  de  Brazza  has  explored  the  Ogowb.  Just  now,  Major  Alexander 
Alberto  de  Serpa  Pinto  has  crossed  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Indian  Ocean  ; whiLe 
Grant  and  Speke,  Gordon,  Elton,  Van  der  Decken,  Schweinfurth,  and  others  have 
made  great  discoveries  in  the  eastern  and  northern  portions.  Yet  much  remains 
wholly  unexplored,  and  of  what  we  know  best  our  knowledge  is  imperfect.3 

1 Captain  Speke,  in  his  work  entitled  What  Led  to  the  Discovery  of  the  Sources  of  the  Nile , states  that  on 
his  return  from  a journey  to  the  Somali  Land,  on  visiting  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  there  was  revealed 
to  him  for  the  first  time  the  great  objects  of  an  expedition  planned  by  Captain  Burton.  “ On  the  walls  of  the 
Society’s  rooms  there  hung  a large  diagram,  comprising  a section  of  Eastern  Africa,  extending  from  the 
equator  to  140  south  latitude,  and  from  Zanzibar  sixteen  degrees  inland,  which  had  been  constructed  by  two 
reverend  gentlemen,  missionaries  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society  of  London,  a short  time  previously,  when 
carrying  on  their  duties  at  Zanzibar.  In  this  section  map,  up  about  half  of  the  whole  area  of  the  ground  in- 
cluded in  it,  there  figured  a lake  of  such  portentous  size  and  such  unseemly  shape,  representing  a gigantic 
slug,  or,  perhaps,  even  closer  still,  the  ugly  salamander,  that  everybody  who  looked  at  it  incredulously  laughed 
and  shook  his  head.  It  was  indeed  phenomenon  enough  in  these  days  to  excite  anybody’s  curiosity  ! ” Ed- 
ward Hutchinson,  Esq.,  in  Journal  Society  0/  Arts,  June,  1876,  p.  691.  D’Anvers,  Heroes  of  South  African 
Discovery , 142.  Speke,  Nile  Sources , 364.  Proceedings  of  the  Conference  on  Foreign  Missions , held  at 
the  Conference  Hall , in  Mildmay  Park , London , in  October,  1878  ; the  admirable  paper  on  “ Discovery  and 
Missions  in  Central  Africa,”  by  Sir  T.  Fowell  Buxton,  Bart , pp.  35-49. 

2 12,000,000  sq.  m.  186,000,000  pop.  Banning  gives  18,000,000  sq.  miles  as  the  area,  and  200,000,000  popu- 
lation. Africa  and  the  Brussels  Geog.  Cot/f,  pp.  x.  33.  In  this  paper  we  give  round  numbers  and  usually 
the  lowest  figures  of  the  best  authorities.  They  are  rough  estimates  of  course,  but  approximate  correctness. 
Stanford’s  admirable  Compendium,  “Africa,”  by  Keith  Johnston,  unfortunately  does  not  furnish  as  many 
statistics  as  we  look  for. 

3 For  an  admirably  compact  and  comprehensive  sketch  of  discoveries  in  Africa  in  the  nineteenth  century, 
see  Banning,  Africa  and  the  Brussels  Geog.  Conf ch.  1.  Revue  de  Geographic , Paris,  Institut  Gdo- 
graphique  de  Paris,  July,  1879:  “ Les  Anciennes  Explorations  et  les  Futures  Decouvertes  de  l’Afrique  Cen- 
tral,” by  E.  T.  Berlioux.  On  the  discovery  of  the  Snow-capped  Mountains:  Krapf’s  Travels,  Appendix, 
P-343  seg. 


5 


The  Proposed  Mission  in  Central  Africa. 

Central  Africa,  geographers  call  that  part  of  this  mysterious  continent  which, 
with  the  Atlantic  for  its  western  boundary  and  the  Indian  Ocean  for  its  eastern, 
lies  between  the  parallels  of  about  50  north  of  the  equator,  and  180  or  20°  south.1 
Bordering  Central  Africa  on  the  north  are  the  great  stales  of  Soudan,  where  a sort 
of  Mohammedanism  prevails,  and  Abyssinia,  where  a sort  of  Christianity  prevails. 
Above  these  the  Sahara  and  the  desert  of  Nubia  stretch  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Red  Sea;  beyond  the  great  desert  are  Egypt,  Tripoli,  Tunis,  Algiers,  and  Mo- 
rocco ; while  west  of  the  Soudan  are  the  vast  territories  watered  by  the  Sen- 
egal, the  Gambia,  the  Jolliba,  the  Quorra,  Binnu£,  and  Niger,  coming  down  to 
the  Gulf  of  Guinea.  Towards  the  south,  the  central  plateau  is  bounded  by  the 
Zambesi. 

The  shape  of  Central  Africa  has  been  compared  to  that  of  an  inverted  saucer. 
It  is  rimmed  on  the  sea-coast  by  a narrow  strip  of  low  land  ; a few  miles  inland 
the  country  rounds  up  to  a rocky  ridge  ; a little  further  in,  it  spreads  into  a table-land, 
which,  sinking  into  a slight  hollow  towards  the  middle,  fills  the  breadth  of  the 
continent.  The  general  elevation  of  the  table-land  is  more  than  2,500  feet,2  while 
here  and  there  it  is  swollen  into  mountains,  out  of  which  shoot  peaks  which  are 
the  loftiest,  with  a few  exceptions,  of  any  on  the  globe.  In  the  most  elevated  table- 
land there  are  immense  swamps  and  lakes,  which  are  the  spring  heads  of  the  Nile, 
flowing  northward  to  the  Mediterranean,  one  eleventh  of  the  circumference  of  the 
globe,3  and  draining  a basin  more  than  twice  the  size  of  the  basin  of  the  Missis- 
sippi ; of  the  Jub  and  the  Dana  and  the  Zambesi,  flowing  eastward  to  the  Indian 
Ocean  ; and  of  the  Cunene,  the  Coanza,  the  Congo,  with  its  4,000  miles  of  navi- 
gable waters,  and  the  Ogow&,  emptying  into  the  Atlantic. 

The  area  of  Central  Africa  is  greater  than  that  of  the  United  States  east  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  and  its  population  is  about  equal  to  our  whole  country.  A 
characteristic  feature  is  a chain  of  lakes,  vaster  in  extent  and  in  volume  of  water 
than  those  which  stretch  from  Lake  Superior  to  the  St.  Lawrence.4  While  there 
are  interminable  forests  and  morasses,  there  are  still  greater  breadths  of  fertile 
plains  and  salubrious  high  lands.  Central  Africa  is  not,  as  it  was  once  thought,  a 
torrid  desert  or  an  unmitigated  swamp,  but  “one  of  the  most  luxuriant  and  produc- 
tive regions  of  the  earth.”  “ It  is  imagined  by  some,”  continues  Mr.  Rowley,  who 
has  traversed  the  eastern  portion,  “ that  the  great  central  plateau,  because  it  is  the 
seat  of  a wide-spread  lake  system,  and  is  also  intersected  in  almost  every  direction 
by  rivers  which  have  numerous  branches,  and  in  whose  valleys  marshes  are  formed, 
is  nothing  better  than  a huge  swamp.  This  is  an  error  to  which  travelers  have  un- 
wittingly contributed  Most  African  explorations  have  had  for  their  object  the  dis- 
covery of  river  sources.  Travelers  therefore  have  kept  as  close  as  they  could  to  the 
rivers,  and  in  the  narratives  of  their  travels,  they  frequently  describe  a very  humid 
country.  Livingstone  was  said  by  the  natives  to  have  been  afflicted  with  water  in 
the  head,  so  persistently  did  he  hunt  after  and  cling  to  the  watery  regions.  But 
no  one  knew  better  than  Livingstone  that  the  swamp  lands  are  not  the  chief  char- 
acteristic of  Central  Africa.  He  continually  expatiated  on  magnificent  ranges  of 
highland  country.  My  recollections  of  the  highlands  of  East  Central  Africa  are  not 
less  pleasant  than  were  those  of  Dr.  Livingstone.  After  leaving  the  river  Shire,  at 
about  350  miles  from  the  coast,  and  passing  over  a hill  country  in  which  steppes  al- 

1 This  is  the  definition  of  Central  Africa,  given  at  the  International  Geographical  Conference  at  Brussels, 
September,  1876.  History , by  E.  Banning.  London,  1877,  pp.  xii.,  and  Appendix,  133. 

* The  surface  of  Victoria  Nyanza  is  3,700  feet  above  the  ocean;  of  Tanganyika,  2,700  feet. — Banning, 
Bruss.  Geog.  Con /.,  40. 

3 H.  M.  Stanley  makes  the  Nile  4,200  miles  long.  Through  the  Dark  Continent , vol.  i.,  p.  158.  The  usual 
estimate  is  about  2,300  miles. 

4 The  Victoria  Nyanza  measures,  Banning  says,  50,000  square  miles.  Tanganyika  is  400  miles  long,  and 
covers  22,900  square  miles.  Nyassa  is  200  miles  long,  and  covers  9,000  square  miles.  — Banning,  ch.  2.  Stan- 
ley gives  21,500  square  miles  as  the  area  of  Victoria  Nyanza. 


6 


The  Proposed  Mission  in  Central  A frica. 

ternated  with  broad  valleys,  cultivated  lands  with  long  stretches  of  park  like  woods, 
we  reached,  at  an  altitude  of  about  2,500  feet,  a seemingly  illimitable  plain,  which 
opened  out  to  view  one  of  the  most  magnificent  prospects  I ever  beheld.  Far  as  the 
eye  could  see  — and  here,  for  the  greater  part  of  the  year,  the  atmosphere  is  so  clear 
that  it  does  not  seem  to  impede  the  vision  — there  extended  a wide,  grassy  plain, 
broken  here  and  there  by  rocks  of  fantastic  shape,  verdant  hills,  clusters  of  trees, 
streams  of  water  on  whose  banks  grew  lofty  trees,  which  formed  bowers  of  foliage 
that  equaled  in  hue  and  excelled  in  grace  of  form  any  similar  production  of  Europe  ; 
and  mountains  that  far  and  near  lifted  up  their  heads  towards  the  pale  azure  of  the 

sky,  rising  sometimes  to  the  height  of  nearly  10,000  feet The  fertility  of 

the  greater  part  of  this  vast  plain  was  remarkable.  Year  by  year  it  produced  abun- 
dantly a great  variety  of  cereals  and  tuberous  plants.  The  larger  wild  animals 
were  scarce,  for  the  population  was  great,  and  had  driven' them  to  take  shelter  in 
less-peopled  districts.  The  climate  was  cool  and  refreshing  ; indeed,  it  was 
a land  calculated  to  nourish  the  body,  to  gladden  the  heart,  and  to  content  the 
mind.”  1 

The  people  of  Central  Africa  belong  to  the  great  Bantu  family,  resembling 
somewhat  in  color  and  form,  but  differing  wholly  in  language  from,  the  negroes 
proper,  who  dwell  north  of  the  equator,  and  especially  about  the  Gulf  of  Guinea. 
The  Bantu  tribes  have  a skin  varying  from  a brown  to  a blue-black,  and  hair 
woolly,  but  differing  in  length  and  quality.  In  the  far  interior  are  tribes  of 
dwarfs,  the  classical  pygmies.2  Major  de  Serpa  Pinto  met  with  people  of  yellow- 
ish-white skins  and  hair,  and  pink  eyes.  There  are  several  large  kingdoms  in  the 
interior,  though  generally  there  is  a loose,  incoherent,  tribal  relationship,  with  lit- 
tle government  of  any  kind  ; villages  have  head  men,  and  look  out  for  themselves, 
but  give  little  support  to  one  another.  Cotton  cloths  are  woven  by  some  tribes  ; 
smiths  smelt  iron  ore,  and  hammer  out  hoes  and  spears  on  stone  anvils  ; copper 
ornaments  are  curiously  wrought ; earthen  pottery  in  basket  patterns  is  baked  by 
the  women.  A belt  of  cannibals,  comprising  some  of  the  most  vigorous  and  intel- 
ligent of  the  African  people,3  stretches  across  from  the  Cameroons  to  the  Albert 
Nyanza.  Everywhere  polygamy  and  slavery  prevail  in  the  most  degrading  forms. 
Slaves  are  one  of  the  chief  products,  and  a great  article  of  commerce.  The  inland 
slave  trade  is  immense  and  universal.  The  external  trade,  to  Egypt  and  the 
Barbary  States,  Arabia,  and  Turkey,  has  yearly  swept  off  its  half  million  souls.4 

In  Northern  Africa  Mohammedanism  is  prevalent.  The  western  coast  is 
fringed  with  Christian  missions  from  Sierra  Leone  to  the  Gulf  of  Guinea.  In 

1 Africa  Unveiled,  by  the  Rev.  Henry  Rowley,  formerly  of  the  Universities’  Mission  to  Central  Africa. 
1876,  pp.  11,  12. 

Banning  declares  that  Africa  “ is  rich  in  products  of  every  kind,  and  possesses  in  abundance  all  the  re- 
sources which  form  the  materal  basis  of  civilization.  The  populations  are  neither  unfitted  for  nor  opposed  to 
all  improvement.  Christianity,  science,  and  commerce  are  capable  of  changing  their  whole  social  condition. 
The  advances  which  they  have  already  realized  under  the  least  favorable  circumstances  are  a guarantee  for  the 
future.”  — Africa  and  the  Bruss.  Geog.  Covf  pp.  ioi,  102. 

2 The  Heart  of  Africa.  Three  Years'  Travels  and  Adventures  in  the  unexplored  Regions  of  Central 
Africa,  from  1868  to  187/.  by  Dr.  Georg  Schweinfurth.  Translated  by  Ellen  E.  Frewer,  with  an  Introduc- 
tion by  Winwood  Reade,  1873,  vol.  ii.,  ch.  16.  Through  the  Dark  Continent , by  H.  M.  Stanley,  vol.  ii.,  p. 
172. 

3 Schweinfurth,  ch.  15,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  92  seq . 

4 Banning  gives  specific  figures  for  “400,000  persons  at  least.  According  to  Sir  Bartle  Frere,  this  mini- 
mum is  far  exceeded.  The  Superior  of  the  Catholic  Mission  of  Central  Africa  estimates  at  a million  of  men 
the  amount  of  loss  which  the  slave  trade  inflicts  annually  on  the  populations  of  Africa.”  — Africa  and  the 
Brussels  Geog.  Conf .,  ch.  iv.,  pp.  94  seq.,  specially.  Commander  Cameron  says  “ The  slave  trade  in  Africa 
causes,  at  the  lowest  estimate,  an  annual  loss  of  over  half  a million  lives.”  — Across  Africa , by  Verney  Lovet 
Cameron,  c.  b.,  d.  c.  l-,  Commander  Royal  Navy,  Gold  Medalist  R.  G.  S , 1877,  vol.  ii.,  p.  336.  See,  also, 
Travels  and  Researches  among  the  Lakes  and  Mountains  of  Eastern  and  Central  A frica , from  the  journals 
of  the  late  J.  Frederic  Elton,  f.  r.  g.  s.,  H.  B.  M.  Consul  at  Mozambique,  edited  and  completed  by  N.  B. 
Cotterill.  8vo,  1879.  Introductory  chapter  on  “Africa  and  iha  Slave  Trade,”  by  Frederic  Holmwood,  Esq., 
H.  M.  Assistant  Political  Agent  at  Zanzibar. 


The  Proposed  Mission  in  Central  Africa.  7 

South  Africa  twelve  or  fifteen  societies  are  doing  a noble  work.  As  for  the  in- 
terior, it  is  less  than  twenty  years  since  the  first  Protestant  undertaking  was  made, 
and  less  than  ten  years  since  any  Society  was  fairly  established.1 

II.  ORGANIZATIONS  NOW  AT  WORK  IN  CENTRAL  AFRICA. 

We  cannot  know  what  we  ought  to  do  until  we  know  what  others  are  doing. 

Upon  this  immense  plateau  of  heathenism,  with  its  seething  swamps  and 
morasses  and  icy  peaks  and  its  fertile  plains  and  breezy  uplands,  there  are  at  the 
present  time  ten  Christian  organizations  at  work.  On  an  equal  division,  each 
society  would  have  a parish  of  sixty  thousand  square  miles  and  of  four  million 
souls. 

1.  The  Church  Missionary  Society  of  England,  thirty-five  years  ago,  led  the 
way  for  all  that  has  come  and  is  coming,  by  planting  a mission  at  Mombasa,  on 
the  Indian  Ocean,  near  Zanzibar.  Mombasa  is  not  inland,  but  it  has  proved,  in 
God’s  providence,  the  first  step  thitherward.  Three  years  ago  this  venerable  so- 
ciety struck  inland  seven  or  eight  hundred  miles  to  Victoria  Nyanza,  and  began  a 
mission  in  Uganda  and  Karagua,  with  stations  at  Mpwapwa  and  elsewhere,  inter- 
mediate from  the  coast.  This  region  is  in  the  extreme  northern  part  of  Central 
Africa,  and  is  of  vast  magnitude.  The  Victoria  Nyanza  covers  an  area  equal  to 
the  great  State  of  New  York,  and  its  shores  and  beautiful  islands  are  alive  with 
busy  populations.  Mr.  Stanley  says  King  Mtesa  had  a navy  of  three  hundred 
war  canoes,  and  an  army  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  warriors.2  Great  dif- 
ficulties are  encountered  in  the  mission,  great  sacrifices  of  precious  lives,  and 
large  expenditures  of  treasure,  have  been  made  ; but  the  latest  intelligence  is 
full  of  promise.8 

1 In  Algeria  there  are  Roman  Catholic  Missions.  At  the  Gambia  there  are  stations  of  the  Wesleyan  Metho- 
dist Society  and  of  the  Paris  Socidte  des  Missions  Evang^lique.  At  the  Pongas,  those  of  the  Society  for  the 
Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  and  of  the  Church  of  England  West  Indian  Missionary  Association.  At  Sierra 
Leone,  those  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  of  the  Wesleyan  Missionary  Society,  of  Lady  Huntingdon’s 
Connection,  and  of  the  United  Methodist  Free  Churches.  At  Mendi,  those  of  the  American  Missionary  Asso- 
ciation, and  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society.  At  Liberia,  those  of  the  American  Protestant  Episcopal,  of 
the  American  Methodist  Episcopal,  and  of  the  American  Presbyterian  Societies,  and  of  the  Basle  Missions 
Evangeliques.  On  the  Gulf  of  Guinea,  those  of  the  Wesleyan  Missionary  Society,  of  the  Basle  Missions  Evan- 
g^liques,  of  the  North  German  (Bremen)  Missions  Gemeinde.  At  Yoruba,  those  of  the  Church  Mission- 
ary Society,  of  the  Wesleyan  Missionary  Society,  of  the  American  Southern  Baptist  Convention.  On  the 
Niger,  at  old  Calabar  and  the  Cameroons,  are  those  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  of  the  United  Presby- 
terian, and  of  the  English  Baptist  Missionary  Societies.  At  the  Gaboon  and  Corisco,  those  of  the  American 
Presbyterian  Board.  Among  the  Damaras,  and  in  Namaqua  Land,  those  of  the  Rhenish  and  of  the  Wes- 
leyan Methodist  and  of  the  Finnish  societies.  In  Cape  Colony,  those  of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the 
Gospel,  of  the  London  Missionary  Society,  of  the  Wesleyan  Missionary  Society,  of.  the  United  Brethren,  of  the 
Berlin  Gemeinde,  of  the  Rhenish  (Barmen)  Gemeinde,  of  the  Paris  Society  Evangelique,  of  the  Reformed  Church 
of  Cape  Colony,  of  the  Scotch  Free  Church,  of  the  Uniied  Presbyterian  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  and  a 
Moslem  Missionary  Society.  In  the  Transvaal,  Kaffraria,  Natal,  and  Zululand,  those  of  the  London  Mission- 
ary Society,  of  the  Wesleyan  Missionary  Society,  of  the  Paris  Soci^te  des  Missions  Evangeliques,  of  the  Berlin 
Missions  Gemeinde,  of  the  Hermannsburg  Missions  Gemeinde,  of  the  Reformed  Church  of  Cape  Colony  and 
of  Natal,  of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  of  the  Scotch  Free  Church,  of  the  Scotch  United 
Presbyterian,  of  the  United  Brethren,  of  the  Norway  Missions  Gemeinde,  of  the  Swiss  of  Canton  de  Vaud,  of 
the  American  Board,  of  several  independent  laborers,  and  of  the  Roman  Catholics.  In  Madagascar  are  those 
of  the  Roman  Catholics,  of  the  Norway  Missions  Gemeinde,  of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel, 
and  of  the  London  Missionary  Society.  In  Abyssinia,  those  of  the  London  Jewish  Missionary  Society,  of  the 
Established  Church  of  Scotland  Jewish  Mission,  of  the  St.  Chrischona  Pilgrim  Mission,  of  the  Swedish  Evan- 
gel. Fosterlands  Stifels, and  of  the  Roman  Catholics.,  In  Egypt,  those  of  the  Roman  Catholics,  of  the  American 
United  Presbyterian,  of  the  St.  Chrischona  Pilgrim  Mission,  and  of  several  independent  laborers.  About  i860 
the  St.  Chrischona  brethren  projected  an  “ Apostles’  Street,”  to  reach  from  Egypt  southward  ; to  be  comprised 
in  twelve  stations,  fifty  leagues  distant  from  each  other,  — St.  Matthew’s  Station  to  be  at  Alexandria,  St.  Mark’s 
at  Cairo,  St.  Luke’s  at  Assuan,  and  thus  onward.  The  “ Apostles’  Street  ” has  not  been  completed,  and  the 
project  never  had  much  success.  See  Krapf,  133. 

* Through  the  Dark  Continent,  vol.  i.,  ch.  12. 

6 For  an  interesting  history  of  this  mission,  and  the  preparatory  work,  see  The  Victoria  Nyanza , a field 
for  Missionary  Enterprise , by  Edward  Hutchinson,  f.  r.  g.  s.,  f.  s.  a.,  author  of  “The  Slave  Trade  of 
East  Africa,”  1876,  8vo,  pp.  136.  The  Victoria  Nyanza  Mission,  a brief  account  of  the  Church  Missionary 
Society’s  Mission  to  Central  Africa,  with  extracts  from  the  missionaries’  letter,  and  a new  map,  pp.  60  (1878). 


8 


The  Proposed  Mission  in  Central  Africa. 

2.  The  United  Methodist  Free  Churches  of  England  have  had  a mission  since 
1862,  at  Ribe,  near  Mombasa,  a few  miles  from  the  ocean,  and  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  south  of  the  Dana  River.1 

3.  The  Universities’  Mission,  the  first  mission  in  the  interior,  established  by 
gentlemen  of  Oxford,  Cambridge,  Durham,  and  Dublin  Universities,  was  com- 
menced in  i860,  among  the  Shird  highlands,  near  lake  Nyassa,  and  after  the  sad 
death  of  Bishop  McKenzie,  was  removed  to  Zanzibar,  and  now  has  stations  on  that 
island,  at  Magila,  on  the  mainland,  two  days  inland,  at  Masasi,  one  hundred  and 
thirty  miles  inland,  and  is  occupying  the  territory  between  Lake  Nyassa  and  the 
ocean.2 

4.  The  London  Missionary  Society  has  taken  the  region  of  Lake  Tanganyika, 
seven  hundred  miles  by  road  from  the  ocean.  It  is  to  have  stations  at  Mirambo’s 
town,  in  Ugara,  at  Ujiji  on  the  east  shore,  and  elsewhere  on  the  lake.  The  re- 
gion is  immense,  and  of  commanding  importance,  on  the  great  line  of  caravans 
across  the  continent.  It  is  proving  very  costly  in  life  and  treasure  to  lay  the 
foundations.3 

5.  On  Lake  Nyassa,  farther  south,  and  comparatively  easy  of  access,  with  water 
deeper  and  wilder  than  that  of  any  Scotch  tarn,  and  mountains  by  the  side  of 
which  Ben  Nevis  would  seem  an  ant-hill,  in  1875,  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland 
commenced  the  Livingstonia  Mission,  and  the  Established  Church  a mission  at 
Blantyre,  near  by.  So  momentous  did  the  question  of  a wise  location  seem  that 
Dr.  Stewart,  of  Lovedale,  was  taken  from  his  important  charge  of  the  college  and 
spent  months  in  making  inquiries  and  explorations  before  this  region  was  de- 
cided upon,  though  David  Livingstone  himself  had  recommended  it.4 

6.  The  Socidte  des  Missions  Rvangdliques,  of  Paris,  in  conjunction  with  its 
Basuto  churches,  has  made  explorations  with  the  view  of  occupying  the  Barots& 
Valley,  which  is  the  region  about  the  head-waters  of  the  Zambesi,  above  the  Vic- 
toria Falls,  some  1,200  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  river.5 

The  Lost  Continent , its  Discovery  and  Recovery , or  A frica  and  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  by  Edward 
Hutchinson,  f.  r.  g.  s.,  etc.,  etc.,  8vo,  pp.  72,  1879.  Eastern  Africa  as  a Field  for  Missionary  Labor. 
Four  letters  to  His  Grace  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  by  Rt.  Hon.  Sir  Bartle  Frere,  g.  c.  s.  1.,  k.  c. 
b.,  D.  c.  l.,  etc.,  with  a Map,  1874,  8vo,  pp.  122.  Second  letter.  The  expenses  of  this  mission,  commenced  in 

1876,  are  reported  to  March,  1876,  £849;  to  March,  1877,  £9,069:  to  March,  1878,  £7,073;  to  March,  1879, 
£13,839.  Total,  £30,830  = $154,000.  March,  1879,  the  staff  comprised  two  clergymen  and  seven  lay  teachers, 
with  two  stations. 

1 Life , Wanderings , arid  Labors  in  Eastern  Africa , with  an  account  of  the  first  successful  ascent  of  the 
equatorial  Snow  Mountain,  Kilima  Njaro,  and  remarks  upon  East  African  Slavery,  by  Charles  New  [mis- 
sionary at  Ribe,  where  he  lies  buried],  with  map  and  illustrations,  1874,  8vo,  530  pp.  Memorials  of  Charles 
New,  by  S.  S.  Barton,  1876,  i2mo,  pp.  230.  Memoirs  of  Mrs-  Rebecca  Wakefeld,  by  R.  Brown. 
Twenty-second  Annual  Report  of  Home  and  Foreign  Missions,  United  Methodist  Free  Churches,  1878. 
Magazine  of  same  for  July,  1878.  Expenses  for  year  ending,  June,  1878,  £1,808.  Four  (?)  missionaries. 

2 Reports  from  187010  1879.  Occasional  Papers,  Nos.  4,  6,  7,  8,  9,  10,  to  March,  1879.  Reports  for  Paro- 
chial  Use,  1865  to  1873.  The  Early  Years  of  the  Universities'  Mission,  by  Rev.  H.  Rowley.  The  Work 
of  Christ  in  Central  Africa,by  Rev.  J.  P.  Farler,  2d  ed.,  1878.  Bishop  Steere’s  Account  of  Zanzibar.  Sir 
Bartle  Frere’s  Eastern  Africa,  pp.  24-47.  At  the  close  of  1878  the  European  staff  numbered  one  bishop, 
six  priests,  six  deacons,  and  tw'elve  laity,  six  of  whom  were  women.  Amount  expended  in  1S7S  was  £4,520 
19 s.  9 d.  The  average  for  the  five  last  years  is  about  £5,425. 

3 The  Mission  in  Central  Africa.  With  Map.  March,  1879.  The  Eighty-fourth  Annual  Report  of  the 
London  Missionary  Society,  for  year  ending  May  1,  1878.  Expenses  reported  to  May,  1877,  £3,584 ; to  May, 
1878,  £4,046. 

4 Eastern  Central  Africa.  Livingstonia  : The  Mission  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland  to  Lake  Nyassa 
2d  edition,  1876,  pp.  48.  Nyassa:  a Journal  of  Adventures  while  exploring  Lake  Nyassa , Central  Af 
rica,  and  establishing  the  Settlement  of  Livingstonia.  By  E.  D.  Young,  R.  N.  Revised  by  Rev.  Horace 
Waller,  f.  r.  g.  s.  With  Maps,  1877,  12010,  pp.  239.  Report  [of  Free  Church  of  Scotland]  on  Foreign  Mis- 
sions. With  Maps.  May,  1879.  African  Papers,  No.  1,  Livingstonia.  Edited  by  James  Stewart,  m.  d., 
f.  R.  G.  s.,  1870,  8vo,  pp.  74.  The  cost  of  the  Livingstonia  Mission  is  reported,  to  April,  1876,  £5,111  ; 

1877,  £2,160;  1878,  £3,382;  1879,  £2,150.  Total,  £12,803  = $64,000.  Staff,  one  minister,  one  evangelist 
seven  artisans.  The  expenses  of  the  Blantyre  Mission  are  reported  to  January  7,  1877,  £3*548 ; 1878,  £1,226; 
j879,  £2,115.  Total,  £6,889  = $34,500.  Staff,  one  minister  and  wife,  one  physician,  one  dairy  woman,  five 
artisans. 

B The  Journal  des  Missions  Eva ngel iques,  from  March,  1876,  to  July,  1879,  contains  communications  from 
M.  Coillard  touching  the  Barotse  Valley.  $\me  Rapport,  Mai,  1879,  pp.  29-34. 


9 


The  Proposed  Mission  in  Central  Africa. 

7.  The  Livingstone  Inland  Mission  has  had  missionaries  since  1878  on  the  At- 
lantic coast  working  about  the  mouth  of  the  Congo,  and  measures  are  in  progress 
to  reenforce  them  and  push  into  the  region  north  of  Stanley  Pool.1 

8.  The  Baptist  Missionary  Society  of  England  has  a station  at  Makuta,  near 
the  Congo,  south  of  the  Yellala  Cataracts,  and  is  endeavoring  to  reach  Stanley 
Pool  and  work  upward  on  the  south  side  of  the  great  river.2 

9.  The  Roman  Catholics  have  missions  at  Zanzibar,8  at  Bagamoyo,  at  Ujiji,  and  in 
Mtesa’s  kingdom,  and  on  the  Congo.  A company  of  priests  is  also  on  the  way 
to  the  Barots&  Valley,  traversing  the  immense  spaces  in  wagons  from  Cape 
Town. 

10.  Another  organization  really  Christian,  and  which  may  be  so  helpful  to  all 
the  missions  that  it  should  not  be  omitted  in  enumerating  the  agencies  at  work 
for  the  redemption  of  Central  Africa,  is  the  International  Association  for  the  Sup- 
pression of  the  Slave  Trade  and  opening  of  Central  Africa.  In  September,  1876, 
under  the  presidency  and  by  the  invitation  of  His  Majesty  Leopold  II.,  the  King 
of  the  Belgians,  there  was  held  at  his  palace  at  Brussels  a Geographical  Confer- 
ence, comprising  eminent  men  of  seven  great  European  nations.  An  organization 
was  formed,  with  King  Leopold  as  President,  and  the  Presidents  of  the  Geograph- 
ical Societies  of  Berlin,  Vienna,  Paris,  and  London,  as  Vice-presidents,  “ to  explore 
scientifically  the  unknown  parts  of  Central  Africa,  to  facilitate  the  opening  of 
roads  by  which  civilization  may  be  introduced,  and  to  find  means  of  suppress- 
ing the  negro  slave  trade.”  In  pursuance  of  these  objects,  the  one  practical 
measure  determined  upon  was  the  formation  of  relief  stations,  at  Bagamoyo  on 
the  east,  at  Loanda  on  the  west  coast,  at  Ujiji,  and  Nyangwd,  and  at  Muato  Yanvo’s 
capital  in  the  interior,  and  at  other  commanding  centers.  The  relief  stations  are 
to  have  no  military  surroundings  ; they  are  to  comprise  a scientific  man  as  chief, 
with  a naturalist,  an  astronomer,  and  several  artisans  skilled  in  handicraft.  The 
aid  of  merchants  and  consuls,  where  such  are  found,  is  to  be  invoked.  The 
stations  are  to  be  provided  with  stores  of  every  kind,  to  furnish  resting-places  for 
travelers,  explorers,  missionaries,  to  supply  necessaries,  and  gather  information. 
They  are  not  to  be  distinctively  commercial,  nor  religious.  “Missionaries,”  says 
the  Secretary,  “ will  be  free  to  come  and  establish  themselves  in  the  neighborhood, 
and  to  erect  places  of  worship  and  schools  ; to  whatever  creed  they  belong,  they 
will  receive  aid  and  support  from  the  Relief  Stations.”  4 Expeditions  to  carry  out 
these  great  objects  have  already  started.  Companies  of  scientific  men  have  gone 
in  from  Zanzibar,  and  one  or  two  other  stations  are  in  process  of  establishment  to- 
wards Lake  Tanganyika  and  beyond.  Mr.  Stanley’s  expedition  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Congo  is  a part  of  this  scheme.  His  Majesty,  King  Leopold,  expressed  the  hope 
that  our  Board,  in  its  proposed  mission,  would  find  these  Relief  Stations  helpful, 
and  would  also  contribute,  by  what  it  should  do,  something  to  increase  the  num- 
ber and  usefulness  of  such  Relief  Stations.5 

1 Livingstone  (Congo)  Inland  Mission.  Report  of  first  year’s  work,  1878.  Hon.  Secretary,  Rev.  Alfred 
Tilly,  Cardiff,  Wales.  1879  Receipts,  ,£1,26645.  i%d.  Payments,  £937  17s-  3^-  Five  (?)  missionaries ; two 
stations.  The  Regions  Beyond , edited  by  Mrs.  H.  Gratten  Guinness;  number  for  March,  1879. 

2 The  (Baptist,  English)  Missionary  Herald , 1877  to  1879,  contains  papers  of  great  interest  on  this  under- 
taking; also,  “ Explorations  inland  from  Mount  Cameroons,  and  through  Congo  to  Mkouta,”  by  Rev.  T.  J . 
Comber,  February,  1879.  Expenses,  1879,  £1,200  ; staff,  four  missionaries. 

3 Sir  Bartle  Frere,  Eastern  Africa , ch.  2,  gives  some  account  of  them.  For  more  recent  expeditions. 
Proceedings  of  Royal  Geographical  Society , for  August,  1879,  p.  513. 

4 “This  abstention  [from  religion],  however,  proceeds  neither  from  indifference  nor  from  skepticism.  Ft  r 
from  being  hostile  to  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  the  greater  part  of  the  members  of  the  conference  were  of 
opinion  that  this  preaching  would  be  highly  salutary,  and  might  become  the  most  active  forerunner  of  the 
moral  regeneration  of  the  patives  of  Africa.  History  shows  that  Christianity  possesses  a special  virtue  for 
rescuing  savage  races  from  barbarism,  and  making  them  rapidly  overstep  the  first  barriers  to  civilization.  This 
great  and  legitimate  influence  will  not  therefore  be  disregarded,  but  its  guidance  must  necessarily  rest  in  the 
hands  of  the  Christian  churches.”  — Banning , pp.  114,  115,  as  below,  note  2. 

5 For  a full  account  of  this  movement,  see  Africa  and  the  Brussels  Geographical  Conference , by  Emile 


10 


The  Proposed  Mission  in  Central  Africa. 

In  proposing  to  join  forces  with  these  great  organizations  already  at  work  for 
the  evangelization  — the  King  of  the  Belgians  himself  used  the  word  evangeli- 
zation — of  the  Dark  Continent,  it  would  be  unpardonable  not  to  seek  carefully 
and  avail  ourselves  eagerly  of  the  information  they  have  gained,  the  fruits  of  their 
explorations,  the  lessons  of  their  experience,  and  the  counsels  they  have  to  offer. 

We  gladly  take  this  opportunity  to  express  our  deep  appreciation  of  the  dis- 
tinguished courtesies  and  generous  favors  received  in  the  prosecution  of  our 
inquiries  from  officers  and  members  of  these  honored  societies  ; from  mission- 
aries, explorers,  and  travelers,  and  from  many  other  gentlemen  in  the  most  emi- 
nent stations  of  the  civil,  scientific,  and  social  life  of  Europe,  who  have  manifested 
a lively  interest  in  our  work,  and  have  rendered  substantial  assistance.1 

Banning,  member  of  the  Conference.  Translated  by  Richard  Henry  Major,  F.  S.  A.,  with  a map.  London, 
1877,  i2mo,  pp.  xv.,  188.  L'Afrique  Exploree,  No.  1,  for  July,  1879,  p.  19,  has  an  account,  correct  as  far  as 
it  goes,  of  Mr.  Stanley’s  new  expedition.  Also,  Proceedings  0/  Royal  Geographical  Society , August,  1879, 
p.  502.  Mittheilungen  der  Africanischen  Gesellscha/t  in  Deutschland , Heft  P.,  1878,  full  account  of  the 
German  Expeditions,  pp.  10-16,  21-24;  particulars  of  the  International  Africanische  Association,  pp. 
24-45,  Heft  II.,  March,  1879,  Heft  III.,  June  1879.  For  many  other  statements  as  to  these  societies,  and  as 
to  other  points  in  this  paper  not  otherwise  specified,  the  authority  is  private  memoranda  of  personal  conversa- 
tions and  interviews. 

1 As  the  value  of  information  and  suggestions  depends  upon  the  persons  from  whom  the  suggestions  and  in- 
formation come,  it  may  be  proper  to  name  some  of  those  who  have  contributed  favors  of  this  kind.  Among 
them  are  : Pasteur  Georges  Appxa,  Assesseur  of  the  Society  des  Missions  Evangeliques,  Paris ; Robert  Ar- 
thington,  Esq.,  Leeds,  England;  A.  H.  Baynes,  Esq.,  Secretary  Baptist  Missionary  Society,  London;  H.  W. 
Bates,  Esq.,  Secretary  and  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  London ; Rev.  Prof.  Blakie,  Edinburgh, 
now  writing  the  life  of  Dr.  Livingstone;  M.  E.  Bertram  Bocande,  of  the  Portuguese  Concession  Company, 
Paris;  Pasteur  A.  Boegner,  Sous-Directeur  Society  des  Miss.  Evangeliques,  Paris ; Prof.  M.  Burrows,  of  the 
University  Mission,  Oxford;  Baron  Georg  von  Bunsen,  Berlin,  of  the  Imperial  Parliament,  the  Berlin  Geo- 
graphical Society,  and  the  International  African  Exploration  Society ; Rev.  Robert  Busheli.,  Secretary  of 
the  United  Methodist  Free  Church  Missions,  Sheffield;  Sir  Thomas  Fowell  Buxton,  Bart.,  Fellow  and  ex- 
President  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society;  Robert  N.  Cust,  Esq.,  of  London,  formerly  in  the  East  In- 
dian Civil  Service,  Fellow  and  Councillor  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society, 
of  the  Christian  Vernacular  Society,  Director  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  etc.  ; Rev.  Prof.  Theod. 
Christlieb,  of  Bonn ; Rev.  J.  E.  Carlyle,  author  of  South  Africa  and  its  Mission  Fields ; Rev.  E.  Cas- 
salis,  long  a missionary  among  the  Basutos,  now  Directeur  of  the  Societe  des  Missions  Evangeliques,  at  Paris ; 
John  Coles,  Esq.,  Fellow  and  Map  Curator  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  London ; Commander  V.  L. 
Cameron,  r.  n.,  c.  b.,  d.  c.  l.,  f.  r.  g.  s.,  etc  , etc.,  who  preceded  Stanley  a year  in  crossing  Africa ; 
Herr  Eick,  of  Barmen,  many  years  connected  with  a trading  company  in  Africa,  and  now  preparing  to  labor 
there  as  a missionary  of  the  Reinische  Missions-Gesellschaft ; Rev.  J.  P.  F arler,  formerly  of  the  Univer- 
sities’ Mission  on  the  Zanzibar  Coast;  Rev.  Dr.  Fabri,  of  Barmen,  Director  of  the  Reinische  Missions- 
Gesellschaft;  Col.  James  A.  Grant,  of  the  Indian  Army,  the  African  Explorer,  f.  r.  g.  s.,  London;  Rev. 
H.  Gratten  Guinness,  of  the  Missionary  Training  College,  Bow,  East  London,  and  of  the  Livingston 
Inland  (Congo)  Mission  Committee;  Edward  Hutchinson,  Esq.,  f.  r.  g.  s.,  f.  s.  a.,  etc.,  Lay  Secretary 
of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  London;  Rev.  R.  W.  Heanly,  Secretary  of  the  Universities’  Mission  ; 
Rev.  Dr.  J.  L.  Krapf,  the  veteran  missionary  in  Abyssinia  and  Eastern  Africa,  now  at  Kornthal,  near  Stutt- 
gardt,  at  work  on  a new  edition  of  his  Suaheli  Dictionary ; Rev.  John  Kelner,  formerly  missionary  in  South 
Africa,  and  now  Secretary  of  the  Wesleyan  Missionary  Society,  London  ; Rev.  Dr.  Kennedy,  of  the  United 
Presbyterian  Missionary  Society,  Edinburgh ; Rev.  Ed.  Kratzenstein,  of  the  Berliner  Missions-Gesellschaft ; 
M.le  Baron  de  Lambermont,  Ambassador  Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary,  Secretary  of  Foreign 
Affairs,  etc.,  Bruxelles ; J.  S.  Maclagan,  Esq.,  Sec’y  For.  Miss.  Com.  of  the  Church  of  Scotland;  John 
Muir,  Esq.,  m.  d.,  Edinburgh,  of  the  Livingstone  Mission  Committee;  Major  C.  H.  Malan,  of  London, 
who  is  inaugurating  native  evangelistic  labors  in  Africa ; A.  Marshall,  Esq.,  Chairman  of  the  African 
Com-  of  the  London  Missionary  Society;  Rev.THOS.  Main,  Convener  of  the  Com.  on  African  Missions  of 
the  Free  Church  of  Scotland,  Edinburgh ; Rev.  Dr.  Robert  Moffatt,  ll.  d.,  f.  r.  g.  s.,  etc.,  the  veteran 
African  Missionary  and  Explorer;  A.  McColl,  Esq.,  of  Leicester,  who  has  traversed  the  Barotse  Valley, 
and  is  now  taking  charge  of  missionary  explorations  about  the  Congo  in  behalf  of  the  Livingstone  Inland 
Mission  Society;  Dr.  Gustav  Nachtigal,  who  crossed  the  Sahara  and  pushed  explorations  through  Soudan 
and  the  Lake  Chad  region,  and  now,  just  issuing  his  learned  volumes  of  travels,  is  President  of  the  Geog. 
Society  and  of  the  African  Exploration  Society  of  Berlin  ; the  Right  Hon.  the  Earl  of  Northbrook, 
g.  c.  s.  1.,  late  Viceroy  of  India,  President  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  etc.,  etc.;  M.  le  Comte 
d’Outremont,  Brussels ; Major  Alexander  Alberto  de  Serpa  Pinto,  who  has  just  returned  from  his 
perilous  journey  from  Angola  through  Bihe  and  the  Barotsd  Valley  to  Natal ; Rev.  Robert  Robinson,  Sec- 
retary of  the  London  Missionary  Society;  Rev.  H.  Rowley,  of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel, 
author  of  A frica  Unveiled , The  Early  Years  of  the  Universities'  Mission,  etc.,  etc. ; E.  C.  Rye,  Esq.,  Fellow 
and  Librarian  Royal  Geographical  Society;  John  Stephen,  Esq.,  Glasgow,  of  the  Livingstonia  Mission 
Committee  and  of  the  Central  African  Trading  Company;  Rev.  Dr.  A.  Schreiber,  Barmen,  Inspector  of  the 
Rheinische  Missions-Gesellschaft ; Hon.  Henry  S.  Sanford,  late  U.  S.  Minister  at  the  Court  of  Belgium, 
Brussels;  Eugene  Stock,  Esq  , Editor  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society  publications;  George  Smith,  Esq., 


The  Proposed  Mission  in  Central  A f idea. 


i 


III.  WHERE  SHOULD  A NEW  MISSION  BE  ESTABLISHED  ? 

In  the  judgment  of  those  whose  advice  is  of  most  value,  the  question  of  loca- 
tion is  of  supreme  importance.  Mistakes  involving  large  expenditures  of  money 
and  sacrifice  of  life  have  been  made,  by  our  own  Board  as  well  as  by  other  societies, 
and  in  this  very  continent  of  Africa,  in  entering  regions  which  afterwards  had  to 
be  abandoned.  A missionary  society  cannot  be  justified  in  selecting  only  a good 
field  if  there  is  a better  one  accessible  ; much  less  can  it  be  justified  if  it  fails  to 
seek  all  available  information  as  to  regions  that  seem  inviting.  Nor  will  it  answer, 
as  our  experience  during  the  past  few  weeks  teaches,  to  rely  upon  the  information 
vhich  is  on  the  surface,  or  to  take  up  with  what  may  seem  at  first  view  most 
promising  fields  ; prolonged  inquiries  may  prove  fields  of  outward  promise  to  be 
undesirable,  or  that  others  are  preferable.  To  the  inquiry,  what  portion  of  Central 
Africa  now  most  needs  missionary  labors,  and  offers  most  encouragement ; where 
we  should  interfere  with  no  other  society,  but  might  best  cooperate  with  all ; and 
where  the  work  is  not  likely  to  be  done  unless  we  do  it,  eight  regions,  to  nan  e 
only  those  of  great  importance,  have  been  suggested. 

i.  The  first  is  that  of  the  Upper  Congo. 

Mr.  Arthington,  of  Leeds,  who,  it  was  understood,  proposed  to  give  ,£3,000  to- 
wards a mission  in  Central  Africa,  specifically  allotted  a territory  beginning  where 
the  Ikalembe  flows  into  the  Congo,  six  or  seven  hundred  miles  from  its  mouth, 
thence  running  a thousand  miles  or  so  along  the  river  eastward  and  southward. 
Nine  degrees  of  longitude  and  fifteen  degrees  of  latitude  comprise  this  allot- 
ment, including  an  area  nearly  equal  to  the  United  States  east  of  the  Mississippi. 

It  is  in  favor  of  it  that  it  is  a vast  domain,  in  the  very  heart  of  the  continent ; 
that  here,  probably,  the  darkness  is  densest  and  the  savagery  most  unmitigated  ; 
that  the  region  has  never  been  trodden  by  the  feet  of  gospel  messengers  ; and 
that  no  other  society  is  likely  to  enter  it. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  must  be  said  that  we  know  almost  nothing,  and  need  to 
verify  what  knowledge  we  have  of  the  country  and  of  the  people.  Mr.  Stanley 
swept  down  the  broad  swift  current  of  the  Congo,  seeing  only  what  a man  in  a 
boat  could  see  over  banks  shrouded  in  part  for  leagues  by  impenetrable  forests, 
or  jungles  of  tall  reeds  and  rushes.  Commander  Cameron  crossed  the  southern 
part  of  this  region,  and  Dr.  Livingstone  penetrated  it  here  and  there.  Nyangwd, 
the  largest  town  on  the  eastern  sweep  of  the  Congo,  is  the  great  center  for  Arab 
slavers.  Of  Muato  Yanvo’s  capital,  no  traveler  gives  any  description.  From  all 
accounts,  this  great  inland,  upland,  billowy  plateau,  has  a teeming  population 
of  discordant  and  belligerent  tribes,  some  of  them  ferocious  cannibals.  Armed 
launches  may  force  a passage  up  and  down  the  river.  Some  time  must  elapse  be- 
fore it  would  be  hopeful  to  establish  mission  stations.  Neither  of  the  missionary 
societies  at  work  below  Stanley  Pool  counts  upon  reaching  the  smooth  water 
above  the  cataracts  in  less  than  a year.  Mr.  Stanley,  with  his  steam  launches 

ll.  d.,  c.  x.  e , etc.,  etc.,  Secretary  of  the  Free  Church  Missions  Board,  Edinburgh;  The  Right  Hon.  the 
Earl  of  Shaftsbury;  Rev.  J.  P.  Thompson,  d.  d.,  ll.  d.,  Fellow  of  the  Geog.  Society  and  of  the  African 
Exploration  Society  at  Berlin,  etc.,  etc- ; E.  B.  Underhill,  Esq-,  ll.  d.,  f.  r.  g.  s.,  etc.,  late  Secretary  of  the 
Baptist  Missionary  Society,  London  ; Rev.  Henry  Wright,  Canon  of  St.  Pauls,  Hon.  Secretary  of  the  Church 
Missionary  Society,  etc.,  etc.;  Henry  Wright,  Esq.,  a Director  of  the  London  Missionary  Society;  Rev. 
J.  O.  Whitehouse,  Assistant  Secretary  London  Missionary  Society;  Rev.  T.  Wakefield,  of  the  United 
Methodist  Free  Church  Missions,  many  years  at  Ribe,  and  who  has  explored  the  region  of  Mt.  Kenia;  Rev. 
Horace  Waller,  f.  r.  g.  s.,  etc.,  Rector  of  Twywell,  Northampton,  Editor  of  Livingstone's  Last  Journals , 
formerly  of  the  Universities’  Mission,  with  Bishop  McKenzie,  and  a companion  of  Dr.  Livingstone;  Monier 
Williams,  ll.  d.,  etc.,  Prof,  of  Sanskrit,  Oxford  ; W.  H.  Wyld,  Esq.,  of  the  Staff  of  the  Foreign  Office,  Lon 
don;  Sir  Harry  Verney,  of  the  Council  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  etc.,  etc.;  Robert  Young, 
Esq.,  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Free  Church  Missions  Committee,  Edinburgh. 

In  addition  to  these  we  take  the  liberty  to  name  His  Majesty  Leopold  II.,  King  of  the  Belgians,  who  in- 
spired and  presided  over  the  International  Geographical  Conference  at  Brussels,  and  who  is  making  regal 
contributions  towards  the  civilization  of  Africa. 


12 


The  Proposed  Mission  in  Central  Africa. 

and  great  equipments  for  ascending  the  river,  is  not  expected  to  get  through  and 
return  in  less  than  two  years.  Our  friends  of  the  Livingstone  Inland  Congo  Mis- 
sion, and  of  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society,  express  the  most  hearty  welcome  to 
our  Board,  if  it  will  join  them,  and  are  ready  to  cooperate  to  any  extent  practica- 
ble. Ultimately,  of  course,  these  societies  would  expect  to  have,  and  it  would  be 
right  they  should  have,  the  lower  Congo  for  their  operations.  Inevitably  it  would 
be  several  years  before  an  independent  station  could  be  formed  by  the  Board 
above  the  Ikalembe,  which  is  the  lowest  point  Mr.  Arthington  designates.  In- 
stead of  adding  a fourth  exploring  company  to  those  already  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Congo,  it  seems  expedient  to  wait,  and  not  to  interfere  with  their  undertakings.1 

2.  The  second  region  suggested  is  that  of  the  Dana  River  and  Mt.  Kenia. 

On  the  eastern  side  of  Africa,  two  or  three  degrees  south  of  the  equator,  there 
is  a knot  of  mountains  which  reach  an  altitude  almost  as  high  as  Mt.  Blanc  would 
be  with  Mt.  Washington  on  top  of  it.  Two  of  these  mountains,  Kilimanjaro  and 
Kenia,  though  under  the  very  equator,  with  the  torrid  sun  blazing  square  down 
upon  them  twelve  months  of  the  year,  are  covered  with  perpetual  snow,  and  feed- 
great  rivers  which  flow  through  forests  of  priceless  timber  and  fertilize  fields 
which  only  need  the  peace  and  security  of  Christian  civilization  to  be  granaries  of 
wealth.  These  mountains  lie  east  of  Victoria  Nyanza,  towards  which  they  may 
send  their  western  rain-fall,  as  that  on  their  eastern  flanks  discharges  at  a shorter 
distance  into  the  Indian  Ocean.  The  region  is  described  by  Krapf  and  Rebmann 
as  the  Switzerland  of  Africa.  Mt.  Kenia,  nearest  the  equator,  gives  rise  to  the 
Dana  River,  which  rushes  in  a strong  current  200  miles  to  the  ocean.  A bar  at 
the  mouth  blocks  the  Dana  to  large  ships  ; inside  the  bar,  a steamer  can  pass  up 
100  miles  from  Formosa  Bay. 

It  is  in  favor  of  this  region  that  several  gentlemen  in  missionary  and  scientific 
circles,  deeply  interested  in  our  undertaking,  and  thoroughly  acquainted  with 
African  explorations,  without  previously  exchanging  a word  with  each  other, 
spontaneously  named  this  as  above  all  others  the  region  they  would  recommend 
to  the  Board.  “ The  climate  is  beautiful  and  healthy.”  The  tribes  south  of  the 
river  are  branches  of  the  Wapokomo  and  Ukambani,  not  very  numerous,  but 
accessible  to  missionary  effort.  Mingled  with  these  tribes  south  of  the  Dana, 
and  chiefly  occupying  the  region  north  of  it,  are  the  Gallas,  a vigorous,  domi- 
nating race,  numbering  many  millions,2  and  dividing  with  the  Somali  the  vast  ter- 
ritory northward  to  Abyssinia.  The  Gallas  call  themselves  “ Orma,”  which  means 
brave  men.  Dr.  Krapf,  who  knows  them  well,  calls  them  the  Germans  of  Africa, 
and  thinks  “they  are  destined  after  their  conversion  to  Christianity  to  fulfill  for 
Africa  the  mission  which  heaven  has  pointed  out  to  the  Germans  in  Europe.”  3 
The  Gallas  are  not  negroes  proper  : they  are  classed  among  the  Hamitic  fam- 
ilies ; are  “ of  a dark  brown  color,  powerfully  built,  more  savage  looking  from  their 
long  hair  worn  like  a mane  on  their  shoulders.”  In  the  neighborhood  of  Abys- 
sinia they  are  Mohammedans,  and  tillers  of  the  soil ; under  the  equator  they  are 
heathen,  and  lead  a nomadic  life,  as  breeders  of  cattle,  immense  herds  of  which 
feed  on  the  succulent  plains  watered  by  the  Dana  and  the  Jub. 

The  approach  to  this  field  would  be  easy.  It  is  not  far  from  Zanzibar  to  For- 
mosa Bay,  where  the  beautiful  islands  of  Patta  and  Manda,  fertile  and  healthy, 
would  serve  admirably  as  a base  of  operations.  Dr.  Krapf  is  confident  that  the 

1 Stanley’s  Throtigh  the  Dark  Continent , vol.  ii.,  chs.  4-16.  Cameron’s  Across  Africa , vol.  i.,  ch.  17,  to 
vol.  ii.,  ch.  10.  Livingstone's  Missionary  Travels  and  Researches  in  South  Africa,  including  a Sketch  of  Six- 
teen Years’  residence  in  the  Interior  of  Africa,  and  a Journey  from  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  to  Loanda  on  the 
West  Coast ; thence  across  the  Continent,  down  the  River  Zambesi,  to  the  Eastern  Ocean.  By  David  Living- 
stone, LL.  D.,  D.  c.  L , etc..,  1X58,  8vo,  chapters  17,  18.  The  Last  Journals  of  David  Livingsto?ie  in  Central 
Africa , from  1865  to  his  death,  edited  by  Horace  Waller,  etc.,  vol.  ii.,  chapters  3,  4,  5,  6.  Stanford’s  Com- 
pendium;,  “Africa,”  edited  by  Keith  Johnston,  chapters  21,  26,  27. 

2 Krapf  says  seven  or  eight ; others  say  four  or  five  millions. 


8 Krapf,  p.  72. 


13 


The  Proposed  Mission  in  Central  Africa. 

Dana  River  offers  a good  way  of  reaching  the  northern  end  of  Victoria  Nyanza, 
and  regards  the  occupancy  of  the  Dana  and  Mt.  Kenia  as  opening  ultimately  to 
the  territory  north  and  west  of  Albert  Nyanza.  The  Church  Missionary  Society 
would  most  heartily  welcome  our  Board  to  a field  so  closely  connected  with  theirs 
at  Mombasa,  and  at  Kilimanjaro,  which  they  hope  to  occupy,  and  at  Victoria 
Nyanza,  which  they  are  occupying.  They  kindly  offer  to  place  at  our  disposal 
what  Dr.  Krapf,  and  Rebman,  and  others  of  their  missionaries  have  done  in  pre- 
paring dictionaries  and  grammars,  and  in  making  explorations  and  gathering  infor- 
mation. 

There  are  drawbacks  to  the  choice  of  this  field.  Attempts  have  been  made  to 
occupy  it,  which  have  not  succeeded.  It  has  even  proved  perilous  to  try  to  pen- 
etrate the  country  of  the  Gallas,  who  are  a fierce,  if  not  a ferocious,  people. 
Baron  Van  der  Decken  was  harassed  and  baffled  in  his  efforts  to  explore  the  Dana 
River,  and  was  slaughtered  with  nearly  all  his  followers  on  the  Jub,  a few  years 
since  (i 865).  The  Wapokomo,  south  of  the  Dana,  are  not  numerous;  they  are 
to  be  reckoned  by  thousands  only.  A mission  among  the  Gallas,  however  impor- 
tant, will  not  spread  into  Central  Africa,  but  rather  away  from  it.  These  and 
other  drawbacks  it  may  not  be  necessary  to  dwell  upon  in  view  of  another  con- 
sideration which,  perhaps,  will  of  itself  be  decisive.  The  United  Methodist  Free 
Churches,  who  have  for  seventeen  years  had  a mission  at  Ribe,  about  150  miles 
South  of  the  Dana,  say  they  are  fully  expecting  to  push  their  stations  up  to  the 
Dana,  and  to  cross  it  and  work  among  the  Gallas. 

It  was  not  till  special  attention  had  been  called  to  this  great  field,  and  inquiries 
had  been  pushed  in  various  directions  for  all  the  information  attainable,  that  dis- 
covery was  made  on  a personal  visit  to  the  managers  of  the  Free  Methodist  Mis- 
sion that  for  our  Board  to  choose  this  region,  might  seem  to  interfere  with  their 
plans.  Though  the  resources  which  our  Free  Methodist  friends  can  devote  to 
this  work  will  not  allow  them  to  do  what  they  would  like  to  do  and  what  greatly 
needs  to  be  done,  it  was  their  original  intention  and  has  long  been  their  endeavor, 
to  labor  among  the  Gallas.  Ribe  holds  the  precious  dust  of  not  a few  of  their 
sainted  brethren  and  sisters  : the  mission  is  endeared  to  them  by  the  sacrifices  it 
has  cost,  and  they  are  courageous  to  believe  a brighter  future  is  before  them,  and 
a wider  territory  is  to  be  evangelized  by  their  endeavors.1 

3.  A third  region,  and  a vast  one,  suggested  for  the  Board,  is  the  region  north 
and  west  of  the  Albert  Nyanza,  among  the  Monbuttos  and  the  Niam-Niams. 

The  Church  Missionary  Society,  with  its  stations  on  Victoria  Nyanza,  would 
cordially  welcome  us  to  this  neighborhood,  and  be  glad  to  share  with  us  and  have 
us  share  with  them  the  labor  and  expense  of  developing  it.  From  the  accounts 
of  Schweinfurth  and  of  Gordon,  this  region  is  extremely  populous  and  wealthy. 
There  seems  to  be  more  consolidation  of  tribes  into  kingdoms  and  more  advance 
towards  civilization.  Schweinfurth  describes  the  country  with  admiration  and 
extols  its  richness.  “The  Monbutto  land  greets  us  as  an  Eden  upon  earth.” 

The  approach  to  this  region,  at  present,  is  very  difficult.  The  most  enterpris- 

1 Krapf  and  Rebmann  : Travels , Researches , and  Missionary  Labors  during  an  Eighteen  Years'  Res- 
idence in  Eastern  Africa , together  with  Journeys  to  Jagga , Usambara , Ukambani,  Shoa,  A bessinia,  and 
Khartum;  and  a Coasting  Voyage  from  Mombaz  to  Cape  Delgado.  By  the  Rev.  Dr.  J.  Lewis  Krapf^ 
Secretary  of  the  Christian  Institute  at  Basel,  and  late  Missionary  in  the  service  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society 
in  Eastern  and  Equatorial  Africa,  etc.  With  an  Appendix  respecting  the  Snow-capped  Mountains  of  Eastern 
Africa;  the  Sources  of  the  Nile;  the  Languages  and  Literature  of  Abessinia,  Eastern  Africa,  etc.,  and  a con- 
cise account  of  Geographical  Researches  in  Eastern  Africa  up  to  the  discovery  of  the  Uyenyesi  by  Dr.  Liv- 
ingstone in  September  la3t,  by  E.  G.  Ravenstein  f.  r.  g.  s.  [this  last  is  of  special  value].  London,  i860. 
8vo.  Part  I.,  chapters  vi.,  viii.,  ix.,  xii. ; Part  II.,  chapters  ii.,  iii.,  vi.,  vii.,  viii.,  and  Appendix.  — New,  Life , 
Wanderings , and  Labors  in  Eastern  Africa.  Chapters  vii.-xiv.,  xix.-xxiii.  — Sir  Bartle  Frere,  Eastern 
A frica , first  letter.  — Stanford,  Compendium , “ Africa,”  chapter  xix.  — The  Geographical  Society  of  Berlin  an- 
nounced at  their  sitting,  January  4,  1879,  the  arrival  of  a detailed  report  from  Herr  C.  Denhardt,  engaged  in  ex- 
ploring the  Dana  River.  He  had  made  a complete  survey  of  the  river  for  sixty  miles  from  the  mouth  upward. 


14  The  Proposed  Mission  in  Central  Africa . 

ing  explorers  have  not  succeeded  in  traversing  it  or  in  penetrating  it  very  far. 
The  road  to  it,  unless  by  the  Dana,  not  yet  proved  feasible,  is  by  ascending  the 
Nile  to  Gondokoro,  and  so  striking  up  to  the  extreme  limits  of  the  Nile  basin, 
south  and  westward.  It  remains  still  to  be  successfully  demonstrated  that  the 
vast  reaches  of  the  Upper  Nile  can  be  kept  permanently  clear  of  the  floating  isl- 
ands of  vegetation,  which  for  months  effectually  dam  the  stream  to  the  passage 
of  boats.  In  the  political  complications  in  which  Egypt  is  involved,  it  is  ques- 
tionable whether  the  Egyptian  government  can  even  keep  up  the  show  of  sover- 
eignty over  the  immense  territories  she  has  been  annexing  towards  the  equator. 
Extensive  explorations  would  be  requisite,  and  information  not  now  accessible 
must  be  obtained  before  it  would  be  practicable  to  begin  missionary  work  here.  It 
is  one  of  the  celestial  visions  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  that  some  day  it 
may  stretch  across  this  continental  breadth  of  barbarism,  so  that  its  missionaries 
from  Mombasa  and  Victoria  Nyanza  may  join  hands  with  its  missionaries  com- 
ing in  from  the  Atlantic,  along  the  Niger  and  the  Binnu^.1 

4.  The  three  regions  we  have  been  canvassing  are  on  the  extreme  northern 
part  of  Central  Africa.  The  fourth  region  suggested  for  our  occupancy  is  further 
south,  between  the  great  lakes  Tanganyika  and  Nyassa,  and  thence  westward. 

Some  of  those  who  have  specially  called  the  attention  of  the  Board  to  Central 
Africa  think  that  this  is  where  we  ought  to  begin.  It  would  be  in  close  proximity 
to  the  fields  of  the  London  and  of  the  Scotch  Societies,  whose  cooperation  would 
be  generous  and  helpful.  It  is  a region  comparatively  easy  of  access  ; from  the 
ocean  up  the  Zambesi,  and  the  Shir&  and  Lake  Nyassa.  Gentlemen  connected 
with  the  Glasgow  Central  African  Trading  Company  assure  us  that  the  same 
facilities  of  transportation,  which  they  give  to  the  Scotch  Societies,  would  be  ex- 
tended to  our  Board.  The  tribes  in  this  region  are  of  the  same  great  family  with 
the  Zulus,  so  that  our  mission  at  Natal  could  furnish  assistance  in  a mission  here. 

On  the  other  hand,  matters  are  in  such  a stage  of  development  hereabouts  just 
now  that  it  would  seem  not  wise  to  decide  upon  this  field,  if  others  as  hopeful 
can  be  found  elsewhere.  The  societies  working  on  the  two  lakes  are  feeling 
their  way  inland,  and  may  wish  ultimately  to  cover  this  ground.  While  it  may  be 
true,  as  Sir  Thomas  Fowell  Buxton  said,  that  in  this  stage  of  Central  African  mis- 
sions the  various  societies  should  not  scatter  too  much,  but  keep  near  enough  to 
support  each  other,  even  if  afterwards  some  of  them  change  to  new  regions  ; still 
it  seems  desirable  in  choosing  our  ground,  to  give  the  preference  to  the  vast  tracts 
which  are  wholly  unevangelized.2 

5.  In  the  extreme  south  is  another  region,  suggested  specially  by  a gentleman 
who  was  a member  of  the  Universities’  Mission  in  their  earliest  movements  near 
the  Shire  and  Nyassa,  who  traversed  the  country  about  the  lower  Zambesi,  was 
with  Bishop  McKenzie  when  he  died,  was  a trusted  companion  of  Livingstone, 
and  the  editor  of  Livingstone’s  Last  Journals . This  is  the  region  of  Mt.  Goron- 
goso.  “ If  I were  going  out  to  Africa  again  as  a missionary,  I should  choose  this 
of  all  places.” 

The  mountain  lies  south  of  the  Zambesi,  not  far  from  Senna,  and  not  far  from 

1 Schweinfurth’s  Heart  of  Africa , both  volumes.  Long’s  Central  Africa  : Naked  Truths  of  Naked  Peo- 
ple. An  Account  of  Expeditions  to  the  Lake  Victoria  Nyanza  and  the  Makraka  N iam-N lams,  west  of 
the  Bahr-el-A biad  (White  Nile).  By  Col.  C.  Chailld  Long,  of  the  Egyptian  Staff,  8vo,  1876.  Journal  of 
Society  of  Arts,  June  2,  1876,  pp.  698^?.,  Paper  by  Edward  Hutchinson,  Esq.  Stanford’s  Co?npendium, 
“ Africa,”  chapter  16.  The  field  which  the  American  Missionary  Association  has  been  asked  to  enter  lies 
east  of  the  Niam-Niams. 

2 Livingstone’s  Last  Journals,  vol.  i.,  chapters  7,  8,  9 ; vol.  ii.,  chapters  10-13.  The  Lands  of  Cazembe. 
Lacerda’s  Journey  to  Cazetnbe  in  17Q8,  translated  and  annotated  by  Capt.  R.  F.  Burton,  f.  r.  g.  s.  Also, 
Journey  of  the  Pombeiros  P.  J.  Baptista  and  A rnaro  Jose , across  Africa,  from  A ngola  to  Tette  on  the 
Zambesi , translated  by  B.  A.  Beadle;  and  A Resume  of  the  Journey  of  MM.  Monteiro  and  Gamitto , 
by  Dr.  C.  T.  Beke  [published  by  the  Royal  Geographical  Society],  1873,  8vo.  Stanford’s  Compendium, 
'•  Africa,”  chapter  21. 


The  Proposed  Mission  hi  Central  Africa.  15 

the  ocean.  The  Jesuits,  who  are  credited  with  great  foresight  in  selecting  stra- 
tegic points,  in  their  palmy  days  in  Africa  had  a mission  here,  of  which  the  ruins 
are  still  visible.  The  country  about  is  spoken  of  as  most  attractive;  a healthful, 
fertile,  beautiful  country.  The  tribes  are  of  the  Zulu  stock  and  language.  Ac- 
cess would  be  very  easy. 

This  region,  known  of  old  as  Monomotapa,  is  now  the  kingdom  of  Umzila, 
who  hitherto  has  positively  refused  to  allow  missionaries  in  his  dominions.  It  is 
intimated  that  now  he  is  willing  to  receive  them.  The  Landeens  and  other  rov- 
ing freebooters,  between  Gorongoso  and  the  Zambesi,  have  given  great  trouble  to 
the  Portuguese.  It  is  believed,  however,  that  American  missionaries  would  have 
nothing  to  apprehend  from  them.  Natal  is  not  far  distant,  and  the  mission  there 
could  be  helpful  in  this  region.  Indeed,  it  may  seem  best  to  expand  the  Natal 
mission  and  extend  it  up  to  this  neighborhood,  instead  of  making  Gorongoso  a 
new  and  special  Central  African  mission.1 

6.  Gorongoso  is  near  the  mouth  of  the  Zambesi.  Away  up  near  the  sources  of 
the  great  river,  above  Victoria  Falls,  in  the  Barotsd  Valley,  is  the  sixth  region 
suggested  for  a new  mission. 

This  Barots^  Valley  is  a great  tract  of  country,  ten  or  twelve  hundred  miles 
from  the  mouth  of  the  Zambesi,  of  a fertility  like  that  of  the  lower  Nile  Valley, 
owing  its  rank  luxuriant  growths  to  similar  river  overflows.  It  is  about  midway 
between  Benguela  on  the  Atlantic  and  Mozambique  on  the  Indian  Ocean.  Some 
of  the  oldest  South  African  missionaries  and  officers  of  societies,  English,  Scotch, 
and  German,  have  urged  its  occupancy  as  one  of  the  most  desirable  places.  The 
French  Basuto  missionaries  have  explored  the  ground  and  attempted  to  plant  a 
mission.  After  some  months’  residence,  having  buried  two  of  their  explorers, 
they  have  withdrawn  south  again.  It  has  been  said  that  it  was  altogether  un- 
likely our  French  brethren  would  take  this  field  ; that  they  could  hardly  do  so,  as 
their  resources  were  needed  for  work  already  in  hand  ; and  by  all  means  it  was 
declared,  if  they  should  not,  the  American  Board  ought  to  undertake  this  field. 

One  specific  object  of  the  visit  to  Paris  was  to  learn  from  headquarters  what 
the  jSocietd  des  Missions  fivangeliques,  proposed  to  do  as  to  the  Barotse  Valley., 
It  was  found  that  this  society  had  cheerful  expectations  of  occupying  it;  that  the 
question  was  to  be  decided  in  October,  at  the  Conference  of  the  Basuto  Mission 
Churches  in  South  Africa  ; that  it  depends  upon  the  willingness  of  the  Basuto 
Christians  to  take  up  this  work.  It  is  believed,  at  Paris,  that  they  will  do  so. 

Major  de  Serpa  Pinto  traveled  through  this  country.  In  answer  to  special  in- 
quiries about  it,  in  a long  interview  at  Paris,  he  represented  it  as  utterly  unsuitable 
for  missionaries.  In  the  rainy  reason,  for  six  months  of  the  year  in  fact,  the 
country  is  a complete  swamp,  for  leagues  and  leagues,  both  sides  of  the  river,  which 
becomes  a wide  lagoon.  The  natives  have  their  huts  on  slight  elevations,  with 
water  all  about  them.  It  is  extremely  unhealthy  even  for  native  Africans.  On 
the  simple  score  of  the  malaria,  which  mows  down  the  blacks  themselves,  Major 
de  Serpa  Pinto  would  discourage  the  establishment  of  a mission  there.  He 
was  to  talk  with  the  Committee  of  the  French  Mission,  by  their  request  and  ap- 
pointment, the  day  after  this  interview,  and  doubtless  repeated  these  statements 
to  them.  An  English  friend,  Dr.  McColl,  who  is  now  preparing  to  go  to  the 
Congo  as  a missionary  explorer,  and  who  has  been  through  the  Barotse  Valley, 
gave  the  same  account  of  it.  Indeed,  we  find,  what  had  previously  escaped  our 
notice,  that  Dr.  Livingstone  took  companies  of  Makololos,  in  search  of  new 

1 Stanford,  Compendium , “Africa,”  chapter  24.  South  Africa  and  its  Mission  Fields , by  the  Rev.  J.  E. 
Carlyle,  late  Presbyterian  Minister  and  Chaplain,  JsTatal,  i2tno,  1878,  chap.  20,  p.  234;  chap.  23,  p.  285. 
Livingstone  : Narrative  of  an  Expedition  to  the  Zambesi  and  its  Tributaries , and  of  the  Discovery  oj 
the  Lakes  Shirwa  and  Nyassa,  1858-1864,  by  David  and  Charles  Livingstone,  8vo,  1866,  chap.  1.  Living- 
stone's Travels  in  South  Africa , chap.  32.  ^ 


16  The  Proposed  Mission  in  Central  Africa. 

homes,  into  this  Barotse  Valley,  and  it  proved  so  unhealthy  the  Makololos  could 
not  live  in  it,  for  all  its  attractiveness  otherwise. 

At  one  time,  and  that  quite  recently,  it  looked  as  though  all  things  were  point- 
ing to  this  region  as  the  one  of  all  Central  Africa  for  the  Board  to  occupy.1 

There  remain  to  be  mentioned  two  more  great  fields,  which  come  last,  because, 
in  fact,  attention  was  called  to  them  last ; in  importance  probably  they  should 
have  been  put  first. 

7.  One  of  these,  the  seventh  region  suggested,  is  that  of  the  Portuguese  Con- 
cession on  the  Zambesi. 

The  Portuguese  for  two  or  three  hundred  years  have  claimed,  and  to  some  ex- 
tent exercised,  rights  on  the  Zambesi  and  almost  across  the  continent,  from  Ben- 
guela  to  Mozambique.  About  the  Lower  Zambesi,  at  Senna  and  at  Tete,  the  Por- 
tuguese have  long  had  forts  and  officials.  At  one  time  they  had  a settlement  at 
Zumbo,  five  hundred  miles  up  the  river.  There  was  a Jesuit  church  there,  of 
which  the  ruins  still  remain,  and  the  broken  bell  was  lying  on  the  ground  in  Liv- 
ingstone’s time.  Within  a few  years  the  deserted  Zumbo  has  begun  to  be  reoc- 
cupied, and  is  growing  into  commercial  importance. 

To  develop  the  marvelous  resources  of  this  great  region,  the  government  at 
Lisbon  has  made  a concession  of  rights  and  privileges  to  a commercial  company. 
By  a decree  dated  December  28,  1878,  the  government  accorded  to  M.  Paiva 
d’Andrada  and  associates  the  ownership  of  all  mines  of  gold,  copper,  iron,  and 
coal  now  known  in  a vast  territory  on  the  Zambesi  and  its  affluents  ; the  monop- 
oly for  twenty  years  of  working  all  mines  that  may  be  discovered  ; the  monopoly 
for  twenty  years  of  the  forests  ; and  the  ownership  of  250,000  acres  of  the  best 
lands  for  agriculture  and  colonization.  The  Concession  covers  the  whole  basin  of 
the  Zambesi,  from  where  the  Shird  joins  it  eighty  miles  from  the  ocean  up  to  the 
Nyampanga  Island,  six  or  seven  hundred  miles  inward,  where  the  great* Cafue 
empties  its  swollen  waters  from  the  north  and  west  into  the  Zambesi,  as  the 
Zambesi  itself  comes  streaming  up  from  the  Victoria  Falls  and  the  south,  and  by  a 
great  bend  swings  away  eastward  to  the  ocean.  From  the  14th  degree  of  south 
latitude,  near  the  foot  of  Lake  Nyassa,  the  Concession  includes  the  territory 
to  the  17th  degree  of  south  latitude,  about  9,000  square  leagues. 

M.  d’Andrada  has  formed  an  international  syndicate  to  manage  this  Concession. 
The  legal  office  is  at  Lisbon,  the  Board  of  Directors  with  full  powers  are  at  Paris, 
where  the  business  will  be  done.  A company  has  been  formed ; the  capital  of 
one  and  a half  million  francs  in  five  hundred  shares  has  been  quickly  taken  up, 
bankers  competing  for  the  stock.  Arrangements  are  making  to  send  at  once, 
there  are  probably  now  on  the  way,  scientific  and  commercial  exploring  parties, 
to  obtain  minute  and  exact  information.  There  is  talk  of  introducing  colonists 
from  Europe  or  Asia. 

That  this  country  is  very  rich  there  can  be  little  doubt.  Gold,  copper,  and 
iron  have  been  obtained  in  past  years  to  some  extent.  For  miles  the  river  runs 
through  a rich  carboniferous  formation  ; there  are  numerous  outcrops  of  coal ; 
from  some  of  them  Livingstone  procured  fuel  for  the  steamer  he  took  up  the  river. 
The  forests  abound  in  ebony  and  dye-woods,  and  the  caoutchouc  tree.  Sugar-cane, 
tobacco,  opium,  cotton,  coffee,  have  all  been  raised.  The  climate  is  said  to  im- 
prove as  the  interior  is  reached.  The  river  is  navigable  half  way  up  the  Conces- 
sion to  the  first  cataracts  between  Tete  and  Zumbo. 


1 Livingstone:  Travels  in  South  Africa,  chapters  8-16,23-27.  Expedition  to  the  Zambesi,  chaps.  12-15. 
Journal  des  Missions  Evangiliques  de  Paris , for  March,  1876,  to  July,  1879,  containing  M.  Coillard’s  papers 
touching  the  Barotse  Valley. 

Major  de  Serpa  Pinto.  Report  at  Lisbon,  notes  of  which  are  given  by  a correspondent  in  the  London 
Standard  of  June  22  and  23  (1879).  Report  to  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  London,  July  16,  1879,  in 
Proceedings  0/  Royal  Geographical  Society  for  August,  pp.  481  seq. 


17 


The  Proposed  Mission  in  Central  Africa. 

Perhaps  at  Zumbo,  500  miles  from  the  ocean,  where  the  great  river  Loangwa  or 
Aruangoa  comes  down  from  the  southern  slope  of  the  Lokinga  Mountains,  and 
from  the  ridges  and  table-lands  between  lakes  Nyassa  and  Bangweolo,  there  may- 
be found  a healthy  and  commanding  position  for  a mission.  The  approach  to  it 
will  not  be  difficult.  Natal  might  be  in  easy  communication  with  Zumbo.  The 
tribes  around  are  of  the  same  great  Bantu  family  with  the  Zulus,  and  the  lan- 
guages are  kindred.  Away  northward,  around  the  head  waters  of  the  Loangwa, 
are  said  to  be  large  populations.  Probably  from  Zumbo,  Chitambo’s  Land,  near 
Bangweolo,  is  to  be  reached  most  easily,  and  so  also  Cazembe’s  Kingdom, 
famous  of  old  as  one  of  the  mighty  kingdoms  of  Africa.  The  neighborhood  is  not 
far  from  that  of  the  Scotch  Missions  about  Nyassa,  and  mutual  cooperation  might 
be  possible.  So  far  as  is  known,  no  Protestant  society  has  it  in  contemplation  to 
establish  missions  in  this  Concession. 

“ Here,  I exclaimed,”  said  a gentleman  of  Glasgow,  one  of  the  committee  of  the 
Livingstonia  Mission,  and  of  the  Central  African  Trading  Company,  “ when  I read 
about  this  Concession,  here  is  the  place  for  a mission  ! Some  strong  society 
ought  to  go  in  here  at  once  ; it  is  a great  opportunity.” 

With  all  that  looks  encouraging  on  the  surface,  we  must  not  fail  to  observe  that 
as  yet  we  see  little  more  than  the  surface,  and  shall  do  well  to  wait  till  explora- 
tions in  progress  shall  furnish  more  thorough  information. 

All  agree  that  a region  which  has  been  long  under  Portuguese  control,  or  influ- 
ence even,  is  not  hopeful  for  Christian  work.  This  region  has  been  long  under 
evil  influence  : a part  of  it  has  been  for  two  centuries  the  center  of  the  most  cor- 
rupting, not  to  say  the  vilest,  influences  ; the  foulest  atrocities  of  slave-stealing 
and  slave-trading  have  been  committed  here  ; the  most  loathsome  vices  of  penal 
criminal  communities  have  sunk  the  populations,  drawn  or  drifted  in  here,  lower 
than  the  ordinary  depth  of  even  African  barbarism. 

The  Portuguese  government  of  to-day  seems  desirous  of  sweeping  away  the 
evils  of  the  past.  It  is  joining  other  nations  in  legal  enactments  against  slavery. 
It  has  thrown  open  the  Zambesi  to  the  free  trade  of  all  nations.  It  is  sending 
skillful  and  courageous  officers  to  explore  and  develop  the  vast  tracts  which 
have  so  long  been  known  only  to  the  Pombeiro  and  the  Arab. 

The  fact  that  here  is  to  be  started  a commercial  enterprise,  into  which  may  be 
drawn  a motley  company  of  all  and  of  no  nationalities,  eager  for  wealth,  is  of 
course  to  be  taken  into  account.  The  same,  in  its  measure,  however,  is  true,  or 
will  be  true  at  Lake  Nyassa,  and  Tanganyika,  and  at  Victoria  Nyanza,  and  at  all 
the  great  centers,  where  various  societies  are  planting  themselves.  One  result  of 
successful  labors  indeed  is  to  develop  commerce  and  quicken  industrial  enter- 
prises, and  make  men  eager  to  better  their  fortunes  ; and  if  a field  was  found  far 
inland  among  primitive  people,  as  fast  as  the  mission  elevated  the  natives,  it 
would  stir  them  up  to  buy  and  sell,  and  get  gain  by  thriving  industries. 

The  scheme  of  introducing  European  and  Asiatic  colonists  is  also  to  be  kept  in 
mind  in  considering  this  field.  But  even  if  colonists  in  great  numbers  should 
come,  it  may  be  said  that  this  region  would  be  no  worse  for  mission  work  than 
South  Africa.  Even  there  the  natives  are  not  yet  swamped  by  the  colonists,  and 
are  not  likely  to  be  in  this  generation.1 

Whatever,  on  the  whole,  be  the  balance  of  advantages  or  disadvantages  of  this 
region  as  a field  for  establishing  a mission,  — Dr.  Livingstone  was  planning  to  have 
several  societies  plant  missions  on  this  great  river,  and  declared  there  was  widest 
scope  for  any  number  of  separate  societies  not  to  interfere  with  each  other  — it  is 
just  now  exciting  extraordinary  interest,  and  is  giving  promise  of  more  rapid  de- 
velopment than  any  other  portion  of  this  long-sealed  Central  Africa.2 

1 Carlyle,  p.  4. 

s Livingstone,  Travels  in  South  Africa , chapters  28-31.  Expedition  to  the  Zambesi,  chapters  2,  3,  6-10, 
2 


1 8 The  Proposed  Mission  in  Central  Africa . 

8.  There  is  one  other,  the  eighth  and  last,  region  suggested  for  the  new  mis- 
sion, and  which,  so  far  as  present  information  should  influence  the  judgment,  per- 
haps should  have  the  preference.  It  is  the  region  of  Bih&  and  the  Coanza. 

B\hb  is  an  elevated  plateau,  or  rather  a rolling  country,  some  two  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  inland  from  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  It  lies  back  of  Benguela,  in  about  120 
south  latitude.  The  Coanza  or  Ouanza  is  the  most  important  river  south  of  the 
Congo  to  the  Orange  ; steamers  are  now  running  to  Dondo,  one  hundred  and  twenty 
miles  from  the  Atlantic,  where  there  are  cataracts,  and  above  these  there  is  trans- 
portation farther  by  small  boats.  The  spring  heads  of  the  river  are  in  Bihe,  and 
for  missionary  purposes  Bihe  and  the  Coanza  may  be  named  together. 

The  important  points  in  a country,  as  Bishop  Steere  well  says,  are  those  which 
trade  has  developed.  Bihe  is  a great  caravan  center.  The  only  route  across 
the  continent,  south  of  the  Niger,  passes  through  Bih& ; there  the  road 
branches  off  for  Nyangwe,  on  the  Upper  Congo,  for  Muato  Yanvo’s  Kingdom  of 
Ulanda,  and  for  the  Cazembe,  Lake  Bangweolo,  Tanganyika,  and  Nyassa,  and 
for  the  Senna  rivers,  so  called,  on  the  Lower  Zambesi,  and  Mozambique.  The 
climate  of  Bih&  is  said  to  be  delightful ; the  elevation  of  four  or  five  thousand 
feet  moderates  the  tropical  heats.  The  land  is  well  watered  and  fruitful.  Some 
Portuguese  blood  has  been  mingled  in  the  population,  but  in  the  main  the  tribes 
show  all  the  marks  of  the  great  Bantu  family,  which  occupies  this  central  region 
of  the  continent  and  spreads  through  Zululand  southward.  The  language  is  of 
the  same  Bantu  family,  though  many  Portuguese  words  have  come  in  from  the 
western,  and  Suaheli  words  from  the  eastern,  coast,  and  these  two  languages  suf- 
fice for  travelers. 

The  first  and  great  consideration  in  favor  of  this  region  is  its  healthiness. 
One  reason  why  advances  to  the  interior  have  been  undertaken  from  the  east 
coast  is  because  this  seemed  less  unhealthy  than  the  west  coast.  Even  on  the 
east  side  of  the  continent,  the  Mrima , as  the  low,  swampy,  pestilential  sea-coast 
is  called,  has  a breadth,  opposite  Zanzibar,  of  one  or  two  hundred  miles,  which 
must  be  traversed  by  slow  stages,  and  where  disease  is  contracted  before  the 
healthier  upland  is  reached.  On  the  west  side  of  the  continent,  north  of  the  Con- 
go, the  sea-coast  is  everywhere  low  and  swampy;  dense  mangrove  thickets  breed 
pestilential  fevers.  There  is  a wide  belt  of  this  miasma  before  the  foot-hills  are 
gained.  With  a slight  break  at  the  Cameroons,  this  is  the  character  of  the  west 
coast  from  the  Congo,  around  the  Bight  of  Biafra  and  the  Bight  of  Benin  and  the 
Gulf  of  Guinea  to  Cape  Palmas  and  north  of  Cape  Mount  clear  up  to  the  Sene- 
gal. From  the  Congo,  southward,  begins  a change.  South  of  this  oceanic  estu- 
ary the  mangrove  and  the  swamp  mud  disappear;  shingle  and  sandy  reaches 
commence,  and  scant  vegetation  covers  the  narrow  border  between  the  sea  and 
the  hills.  Angola  and  Benguela,  on  this  sandy  sea-coast,  are  declared  by  Mon- 
teiro,  who  lived  there  many  years,  to  be  healthy.  A short  distance  from  the  ocean 
the  hills  rise  into  the  first  plateau  ; a little  farther  inland  the  loftier  second  plateau 
begins,  and  as  you  advance  the  scenery  is  so  attractive  that  Commander  Cameron, 
foot-sore  and  weary  with  his  march  across  the  continent,  stopped,  and  gazed  and 
gazed  till  he  forgot  himself,  and  imagined  he  was  looking  upon  the  parks  and  pas- 
tures of  England.  “ Neither  poet,  with  all  the  wealth  of  word  imagery,”  he  asserts, 
“ nor  painter,  with  almost  supernatural  genius,  could  by  pen  or  pencil  do  full  justice 
to  the  country  of  Bailunda.”  1 “ In  all  tropical  Africa,”  says  Major  de  Serpa  Pinto, 

15,  16,  22,  29.  The  Lands  of  Cazembe,  by  Burton,  Beadle,  and  Beke  (which  has  an  Index,  as  very  strangely 
the  other  books  do  not  have).  Stanford’s  Compendium , “ Africa,”  chapter  24.  Circular  of  M.  le  Comte  d’An- 
drada,  addressed  to  M.  Bocande,  containing  the  text  (in  French)  of  the  Concession  of  the  Portuguese  Govern- 
ment, and  the  organization  and  by-laws  of  the  Syndicate.  L'Afrique  Explorie , etc.,  for  July,  1879,  p.  21, 
article  on  “ Compagnie  Generale  du  Zambeze.”  Engineering,  a London  illustrated  weekly  journal,  date  of 
April  11,  1879,  pp.  310,  31 1. 

1 Across  Africa,  ii.,  230. 


19 


The  Proposed  Mission  in  Central  Africa. 

“this  is  the  territory  most  suitable  for  European  colonization.  Bihk,  forming  the 
southern  limit  of  the  Benguelan  highlands,  stands  five  thousand  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  sea,  and  possesses  great  advantages  in  its  salubrity  and  its  commer- 
cial and  agricultural  capabilities,  which  highly  recommend  it  to  European  atten- 
tion.” i 

The  next  great  consideration  in  favor  of  this  region  is,  that  there  seems  to  be 
more  approach  to  a large  compact  kingdom  than  in  most  places.  The  king  of 
Bih&  appears  to  be  a great  personage.  His  capital,  Kagnombe,  was  the  largest 
town  Cameron  found  in  crossing  the  continent,  and  Cameron  passed  through 
Mpwapwa,  and  Mirambo’s  town,  Ujiji  and  Nyangwd,  and  other  great  centers. 

The  two  first  things  to  be  sought  for  in  a mission  field,  say  those  of  largest  ex- 
perience in  African  missions,  are  a healthy  locality  and  a compact  and  popu- 
lous tribe.  Livingstone  makes  healthiness  the  one  essential.  But  another  main 
obstacle  to  permanent  results  is  the  fact  that  Africa  is  covered  with  petty  tribes, 
which  are  isolated  and  shifting,  and  have  no  mutual  coherence.  This  is  both 
cause  and  consequence  of  slave-stealing  forays.  “ It  may  be  fairly  accepted,”  says 
Mr.  Hutchinson,2  “that  the  obstacles  which  have  barred  the  spread  of  a higher 
civilization  in  West  Africa  have  been  mainly  two  : first,  the  deadly  climate  ; and, 
second,  the  politically  incoherent,  unstable  character  of  the  people,  caused  partly 
by  the  disintegrating  influence  of  the  slave-trade.”  Sir  Bartle  Frere  quotes  and 
confirms  this  declaration. 

As  to  healthiness,  Bihe,  if  accounts  can  be  trusted,  would  seem  to  be  pre- 
eminent. As  to  having  within  reach  a numerous  population  likely  to  spread  the 
Gospel  when  they  receive  it,  it  also  seems  to  be  preeminent.  “ Biheans,”  says 
Major  de  Serpa  Pinto,  “traverse  the  continent  from  the  equator  to  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope.  I have  visited  many  tribes  who  had  never  before  seen  a white  man, 
but  I never  met  with  one  who  had  not  come  in  contact  with  the  inhabitants  of 
Bihe.  Great  expeditions  depart  from  there  carrying  merchandise.” 

It  is  a third  consideration  in  favor  of  Bihe  that  through  it  the  central  barbarism 
will  be  attacked  on  its  western  side.  Many  and  great  societies  are  working  in 
from  the  east ; only  two  are  working  from  the  west,  and  they  are  but  just  beginning, 
and  both  are  on  the  Congo.  Through  Benguela  there  is  an  open  approach  to  a 
region  which  no  other  society,  as  far  we  know,  is  occupying,  though  it  is  vast 
enough  to  employ  the  energies  of  several  societies. 

A fourth  consideration  in  favor  of  Bihk  is  that  it  seems  one  of  the  most  feasi- 
ble points  from  which  to  reach  the  regions  beyond.  A mission  on  the  Bihean 
uplands  should  be  with  the  view  of  pushing  on,  in  due  time,  as  the  caravans  push 
on  into  the  interior.  The  predominant  power  of  Central  Africa  has  long  been  re- 
puted to  be  that  of  Muato  Yanvo,  in  Ulanda  and  Urua.  For  generations  of 
travelers,  Muato  Yanvo  and  the  Cazembe  have  been  names  to  conjure  with ; 
they  are  the  Great  Moguls  and  the  Prester  Johns  of  Africa.  The  country  ad- 
joining Bih&  is  Kibokwa;  then  comes  Lovalla,  both  dependencies  of  Muato 
Yanvo’s,  whose  capital  at  present  seems  to  be  Kibebe,  in  Ulunda.  In  this  heart 
of  the  dark  continent  it  is  that  Cameron  describes  the  ghastly  savagery  which  ac- 
companies the  burial  of  a chief : a river  turned  from  its  bed,  a pit  dug,  the  bottom 
covered  with  living  women,  over  these,  as  a platform,  one  woman  planted,  on  her 
hands  and  knees,  and  on  her  back  the  corpse  of  the  dead  man,  supported  by  his 
wives,  crouching  around  him  ; then  the  earth  shoveled  in,  while  fifty  male  slaves 
are  slaughtered  and  their  blood  poured  over  it,  before  the  river  is  brought  back 
to  its  desecrated  bed.  It  would  be  preaching  to  spirits  in  prison  to  preach  the 
Gospel  here. 

The  access  to  this  field  of  Bihe  is  easy,  and  if  it  should  be  determined  upon, 

1 Proceedings  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  August,  1879,  p.  482. 

2 Jourttal  of  Society  of  Arts,  June,  1876,  p.  90. 


20  The  Proposed  Mission  in  Central  Africa. 

in  case  further  information  justifies  the  favorable  accounts,  the  preliminary  ex- 
plorations could  be  made  at  less  cost  and  the  station  be  formed  in  less  time  prob- 
ably than  anywhere  else.  Ocean  steamers  make  quick  communication  between 
Natal  and  Cape  Town,  and  between  Cape  Town  and  Benguela,  so  that  with  affinity 
of  race  and  of  language  the  Zulu  Mission  might,  doubtless,  be  turned  to  advan- 
tage here  at  light  cost.  There  is  a constantly-traveled  route  in  from  Benguela. 
The  Coanza  River  has  a line  of  steamboats  on  it,  the  basin  of  the  river  is  now 
being  scientifically  explored  to  its  source,  and  charts,  on  a large  scale,  giving 
minute  topographical  features,  are  publishing  by  the  explorers  of  the  Berlin  So- 
ciety. Dr.  Nachtigal,  president  of  the  Geographical  Society  and  of  the  African 
Society  at  Berlin,  who  traversed  the  Sahara  and  Soudan,  and  who  now  kindly  puts 
us  in  possession  of  the  charts  as  fast  as  they  are  issued,  and  of  the  results  of  the 
German  explorers,  urges  that  the  region  of  the  Coanza  be  occupied  at  once  by 
Christian  teachers. 

The  considerations  to  be  weighed  against  what  seems  favorable  in  this  region  are  : 
that  Portuguese  influence  has  been  exercised  here,  and  that  the  Portuguese  gov- 
ernment is  enlarging  its  authority  as  far  and  as  fast  as  possible  ; that,  at  any  rate, 
Bihe  must  be  reached  through  Portuguese  territory ; that  it  has  been,  and  doubt- 
less still  is,  a great  slave-trading  region  ; and,  most  important  of  all,  to  be  kept  in 
mind,  that  as  yet  our  information  is  very  imperfect  as  to  the  physical  and  the 
moral  characteristics  of  the  country  and  the  people,  especially  as  to  their  sus- 
ceptibility to  improvement  and  readiness  to  receive  Christian  teachers.1 

It  is  recommended  that  in  view  of  the  reported  healthfulness,  accessibility,  and 
density  of  population  in  and  about  Bihe,  in  Western  Central  Africa,  and  in  view  of 
the  fact  that  no  other  missionary  society  has  begun  labors  in  that  quarter,  specific 
explorations  be  undertaken  at  the  discretion  of  the  Prudential  Committee,  with  a 
view  to  the  establishment  of  a mission  in  the  region  named,  should  further  in- 
quiries confirm  the  information  already  received  ; also,  that  investigations  be  con- 
tinued with  regard  to  the  Portuguese  Concession  on  the  Zambesi  for  the  possible 
establishment  of  a mission  there,  in  case  the  region  of  Bihb  prove  impracticable. 


The  Special  Committee  of  the  Board  on  the  foregoing  paper,  reported  through 
Rev.  Dr.  E.  P.  Goodwin,  Chairman,  as  follows : — 

“ The  Committee  desires,  first  of  all,  to  express,  in  behalf  of  the  Board,  what  they  believe 
is  the  universal  feeling  of  obligation  to  Dr.  Means  for  his  most  interesting,  instructive,  and 
in  every  way  admirable,  presentation  of  facts  relating  to  Africa.  Only  those  can  fully  ap- 
preciate what  a peculiar  thesaurus  of  information  it  is  who  have  had  occasion  to  know  how 
exceedingly  difficult  it  has  been  to  obtain  accurate  knowledge  respecting  this  great  conti- 
nent. Like  other  papers  presented  in  other  years  before  this  Board,  this  will  take  certain 
rank  with  the  highest  authorities  for  its  compendious  and  accurate  embodiment  of  a mass 
of  facts  relative  to  geography,  ethnology,  natural  history,  climatology,  etc.,  not  elsewhere 
to  be  found,  and  which  the  scholars  of  the  world  so  especially  prize. 

“ As  it  seems  to  your  Committee,  there  can  hardly  be  but  one  opinion  as  to  the  wisdom 

1 Angola  and  the  River  Congo,  by  Joachim  John  Monteiro,  Associate  of  the  Royal  School  cf  Mines,  and 
Corresponding  Member  of  the  Zoological  Society.  Two  vols.,  with  Maps  and  Illustrations.  1875,  pp.  x. 
305 ; vi.  340.  Livingstone,  Travels  in  South  Africa,  chapters  19-23.  Cameron,  Across  Africa,  vol.  i., 
chapters  1-17,  18,  19.  Stanford,  Compendium , “ Africa,”  chapters  21,  26.  Major  de  Serpa  Pinto’s  “ Journey 
across  Africa,”  Proceedings  of  Royal  Geographical  Society,  August,  1879,  pp.  481  seq.  Major  de  Serpa 
Pinto  informed  us  that  his  account  of  his  journey,  in  two  volumes,  was  to  be  ready  for  publication  by  Messrs. 
Macmillan,  of  London,  before  Christmas.  In  Mittheilungen  der  Afrikanischen  Gesellschaft  in  Deutsch- 
land, Heft  iii.  June,  1879,  is  a long  paper,  the  last  date  of  which  is  March  7,  1879,  on  Loanda  and  the  Co- 
anza, by  Dr.  Buckner,  of  the  German  exploring  party,  pp.  133-161-  Dr-  Buckner  speaks  as  favorably  of 
the  climate  as  does  Monteiro:  “On  the  whole,  one  may  well  say  that  Loanda  [he  refers  to  the  city  of  St. 
Paul],  not  merely  for  a West  African  city,  but  even  for  a tropical  city,  is  remarkably  healthy,”  page  140. 


21 


The  Proposed  Mission  in  Central  Africa. 

of  the  occupancy,  as  soon  as  is  practicable,  of  such  a field  in  Central  Africa  as  that  which 
this  paper  recommends.  Such  a vivid  setting  forth  of  the  vastness  and  the  hitherto  un- 
known and  undreamed-of  resources  of  this  imperial  realm  ; such  surprising  testimony  as  to 
the  salubrity  of  the  climate  ; such  forcible  statements  as  to  the  teeming  populations  of  the 
various  districts,  and  of  the  cruelties  and  debasing,  bloody  superstitions  which  everywhere  pre- 
vail among  them  ; such  proofs,  nevertheless,  of  the  vigor  and  sturdiness,  and  even  nobleness 
of  some  of  these  heathen  tribes  ; these  facts,  as  they  are  here  presented,  combine  to  make  an 
appeal  to  which  it  seems  impossible  that  all  Christian  hearts  should  not  make  instant  and 
enthusiastic  response.  Indeed,  before  such  recitals,  emphasizing  so  powerfully  the  urgent 
demands  and  peculiar  opportunities  of  so  many  African  fields  for  the  introduction  of  the 
gospel,  it  is  a very  hardship  that  we  should  be  limited  to  a single  opening. 

“ Your  Committee  feel  that  there  is  a special  providence  in  the  bringing  before  this 
Board  at  this  time  the  new  enterprise  which  this  paper  proposes. 

“ I.  First,  the  fact  that  the  commerce  of  the  world  has  its  eyes  on  Africa,  and  is  already 
fitting  out  its  expeditions  for  traffic,  is  most  significant.  All  experience'goes  to  show  that 
when  the  Gospel  has  to  follow  trade,  it  has  to  face  a double  foe  : not  only  the  devils  of 
paganism,  which  are  bad  enough,  but  the  worse  devils  of  an  unprincipled  and  corrupt 
civilization.  It  is  a matter  of  history,  that  the  foremost  obstacles  which  Christianity  had  to 
meet  in  China,  in  India,  in  the  Sandwich  Islands,  were  the  deceit,  the  knavery,  the  un- 
scrupulous selfishness,  the  vices,  which  the  commerce  of  Christian  lands  planted  in  its 
path.  It  will  be  an  incalculable  gain  to  have  the  start  from  the  outset ; that  if  the  gospel 
can  get  the  ear  of  these  native  African  princes  before  the  trader  does,  who  cares  for  nothing 
but  greed,  others,  like  that  noble,  half- Christian  Mtesa,  may  want  translations  of  the  Scrip- 
tures for  State  purposes,  and  may  even  join  hands,  as  he  is  like  to,  with  our  missionaries  in 
ridding  their  lands  of  the  vices  of  heathenism.  And  such  opportunities  we  cannot  certainly 
afford  to  lose. 

2.  Then,  again,  the  evangelization  of  Africa  has  peculiar  claims  upon  American  Chris- 
tians. Whatever  the  horrors  of  the  slave  trade  as  it  exists  to-day  among  these  African 
tribes,  some  part  of  the  responsibility  lies  unquestionably  at  our  doors.  The  supplies 
for  cotton-fields,  and  rice-fields,  and  sugar-plantations,  for  generations,  torn  ruthlessly 
from  their  tropic  homes,  if  not  under  the  disguise  of  a so-called  Christianity,  at  least 
under  the  banner  of  a Christian  nation  ; the  memories  of  the  middle  passage,  with  its  un- 
told atrocities  and  abominations,  lay  upon  us  a debt  of  obligation  which  we  ought  never  to 
forget.  We  can  make  no  reparation,  it  is  true,  for  the  wrongs  and  shames  of  the  slave- 
trade.  But  one  thing  we  can  do.  For  as  many  years  as  American  ships  tracked  the  seas 
with  curses  and  blood,  in  the  interest  of  American  slavery,  we  can  keep  them  re-tracking 
it  with  Bibles,  and  missionaries,  and  prayers,  and  songs  of  jubilee,  in  the  interest  of  the 
gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  evangelization  of  Africa. 

3.  Then  there  is,  besides,  as  the  paper  itself  incidentally  shows,  the  promise  of  a pe- 
culiar success  in  the  work  proposed.  Should  the  field,  which  the  paper  names,  be  finally 
chosen,  it  will  be  easily  and  cheaply  accessible  ; characteristically  healthful ; so  situated  as 
to  other  missions  as  to  secure  their  hearty  cooperation,  while  at  the  same  time  it  greatly 
strengthens  the  hands  of  those  therein  engaged.  Furthermore,  by  reason  of  the  peculiar 
compactness  and  permanency  of  the  people  and  their  relation  to  other  tribes  of  the  in- 
terior, or  among  the  chief  carriers  of  the  inter-continental  trade,  it  will  serve  as  a grand 
strategic  point,  and  tend  to  insure  the  rapid  and  wide  diffusion  of  the  gospel  into  the  re- 
gions beyond.  Then,  best  of  all,  this  proposal  sounds  a very  bugle  call  for  that  perpetual 
advance  in  our  Christian  enterprises  to  which  the  last  command  of  Christ  so  emphatically 
looks  — a command  that  as  to  giving,  praying,  toiling,  lets  no  church,  no  disciple,  rest 
while  there  is  one  unevangelized  nation  or  one  unsaved  soul. 

The  Committee,  therefore,  recommend  that  the  paper  be  approved,  and  that  the  Pru- 
dential Committee  continue  the  inquiries  already  set  on  foot,  with  the  understood  pur- 
pose of  establishing  the  mission  proposed  at  the  earliest  practicable  day. 


